Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry knows how important school teachers were to him growing up, so he wanted to do something special for the teachers in the Nashville area. Last week, the Alabama alum took 25 teachers from the Metro Nashville School District to the CoolSprings Galleria Mall and treated them with a back-to-school shopping spree. Henry teamed up with J.C. Penny and each teacher received a gift card to buy what they need for the school year.
.@Titans RB @KingHenry_2 surprised 25 teachers from the Nashville Metro School District with a back to school shopping spree on Friday night. Each teacher received a gift card to purchase essentials for the school year. @AlabamaFTBL pic.twitter.com/hho8SOkDrl
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) August 23, 2019
“Teachers are very special,” Henry said on the team’s official website. “I know when I was in school, any time I was struggling my teachers tried to spend extra time with me to make sure I got what they were teaching. And when I was getting ready for college, making sure I was prepped for the SAT and ACT. I still talk to the teachers from high school to this day, so they are very special. … I am happy to be a part of this. It is always a blessing to be a blessing.”
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Henry, who attended college at the University of Alabama and attended high school in Florida, has had his share of teachers that made an impact on his life.
“They play an important part in the life of kids, and especially in my life,” Henry said. “So I am very thankful.”
Henry’s work off the field is one of the reasons why Titans fans are happy he’s on their team. In fact, Adam Rank of NFL.com named Henry as the Titans player to root for in 2019.
“Well, my fantasy team is rooting for him to be used like he was at the end of last season; in his final four games, Henry ran for 585 yards, or 146.3 per game, with seven total rushing touchdowns,” Rank wrote. Of course, that was after he ran for 474 yards and five scores in his previous 12 games. Watching him go off last year was like watching Kofi Kingston finally getting some run with the WWE title. Like, what took so long for this to happen?”
Henry was drafted in the second round by the Titans in 2016. But it wasn’t until the 2018 season when the NFL started to take notice of him, recording 1,059 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also had the longest touchdown run of the year which was a 99-yard sprint back in December against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
