Henson leaving Michigan to play
baseball
ProFootballWeekly.com asked editor-in-chief Ron Pollack to comment on the story that
Drew Henson is leaving the University of Michigan to pursue his baseball career with the
Yankees.
PFW: Were you surprised to hear that Henson is giving up his final year at Michigan?
Pollack: Yes and no. No, because there had been rumors that this might happen once the
Yankees reacquired Henson in a trade. Yes, I'm surprised, because it doesn't seem to make
a lot of sense.
If he'd done this a couple of years ago, it would have made more sense to me. What you
have to understand is that Henson's two great dreams in life have been to be Michigan's
quarterback and play for the Yankees.
The Yankees have wanted Henson to strictly play baseball for a while, but he has
resisted that temptation because of his Michigan football dream. Here is why I think the
timing is so strange. Henson is finally "the man" at Michigan. Earlier in his
career at Michigan he was unable to win the starting job. True, he won the starting job
last season, but an injury meant he didn't get to be the starter for a complete season.
Plus, Michigan had what can only be called an ordinary season by its standards, which
means it won a fair number of games but didn't go to the Rose Bowl. That wasn't Henson's
fault. He and the offense were sensational. It was the defense that let the team down.
Nonetheless, Henson and friends didn't enjoy the glory he'd dreamed of for so long.
Given that he's never been the Michigan starter for a full season, hasn't been to a
Rose Bowl as a starter, hasn't been in the hunt for a national title as a starter, I would
have thought he'd want to come back for one more shot at the brass ring. If he'd done that
and then picked baseball, this would all make sense to me.
The leverage is all his. Given that he's put in so much time chasing both his baseball
and football dreams, with more time spent on football in the past, I'm amazed that he'd
give up football so close to the finish line of his college career.
Yes, I know the Yankees will be giving him a ton of money to do so. But that doesn't
make this decision any less surprising to me. After all, Henson had all the leverage. If
he'd played his senior year of football, when he would have been a Heisman candidate, he
would have had even more leverage with the Yankees since his football draft status would
have only upped his price to play baseball exclusively.
The only thing that makes any sense to me as an explanation is the fact that Michigan
lost a ton of talent from last year's team. Stud RB Anthony Thomas is gone. Star WR David
Terrell is gone. Most of the offensive line is gone. The loss of Thomas and Terrell to the
upcoming NFL draft is not insurmountable. The returning talent for Michigan at wide
receiver and running back is excellent. They'll be just fine at those positions. The
replacements might not be in the same elite company as Thomas and Terrell, but they'll be
awfully good. The offensive line is the problem area. The replacements will take a lot
longer to get up to speed along the line than will be the case with the new starters at
wide receiver and running back. A new, inexperienced offensive line means the quarterback
may get hurt a lot more than was the case last season. That's a reasonable concern. It's
really the only reason makes sense to me for why Henson has decided to pass up his final
season at Michigan. I don't know if he'll give that as a reason, but it's the only reason
I can understand, given how much time he's already invested in becoming Michigan's
quarterback and all the leverage that was on his side. |
