Erin Henderson (born July 1, 1986) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who played in

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He is currently an assistant linebackers coach at

Avila University Avila University is a Private university, private Catholic university in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and offers bachelor's degrees and master's degrees. Its 13 buildings are s ...

. He was signed by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2008. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Early life

Henderson was born and raised in Aberdeen, Maryland. He played quarterback and linebacker for Aberdeen High School in

Harford County, Maryland Harford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland, Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Wa ...

and won the first state football championship in school history.

College career

After redshirting his freshman year with the Terrapins, Henderson missed the entire 2005 season after tearing his left

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

. Henderson entered his redshirt sophomore year in 2006 at Maryland and started 12 of 13 games at linebacker. Henderson finished the season with 114 total tackles, 1 sack, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 interceptions. Henderson returned an interception for a TD in a close 28–26 victory at Virginia on October 14, 2006. Henderson had a season high 17 total tackles at Clemson on April 11, 2006. He earned second-team all-ACC honors while finishing 2nd in the conference in total tackles. As a redshirt junior in 2007, Henderson recorded 133 total tackles, a forced fumble, 4 fumble recoveries, and an interception. Henderson had a season high and career high 18 total tackles versus Virginia on October 20, 2007. Henderson was a semi-finalist for the

Dick Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

, which went to James Laurinaitis of

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

. He led a 6–6 Maryland squad to the 2007 Emerald Bowl, where they lost to Oregon State.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

During his rookie year, he played in 10 games and finished with 15 tackles. He mostly played on special teams and saw limited time on defense. Henderson played in two regular season games for the Vikings in 2009, recording four tackles. He was suspended four games by the NFL on December 15, 2009, for violation of league's banned substances policy. Henderson won the starting job at weak-side linebacker at the start of the 2011 season. Set to become an unrestricted free agent for the 2013 season, Henderson re-signed with the Vikings for a two-year contract. In the first regular-season game of 2013 against the Lions, Henderson recorded his first interceptions and got 11 tackles and 1 pass deflection. He was released from the Vikings on February 7, 2014, after two suspected DUI arrests.

New York Jets

After being out of the league in 2014, Henderson signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

on April 8, 2015. On March 23, 2016, the Jets signed Henderson to a two-year contract for $3.1 million. On October 22, 2016, he was placed on the Reserve/Non Football Illness list. On February 25, 2017, the Jets declined Henderson's option, making him a free agent.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Coaching career

In 2019, Henderson became an assistant linebackers coach for

. He has also volunteered as an assistant football coach at his former high school,

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Personal life

Henderson is the younger brother of former linebacker E. J. Henderson. They both played

. Henderson was arrested on suspicion of DUI in November 2013 and again January 1, 2014. Henderson was charged with a DWI and possession of ten grams of marijuana on February 27, 2014, after being released from the Vikings earlier that month. On May 7, 2014, he was sentenced to two years of probation after he pleaded guilty to the latter DWI charge. On September 29, 2017, it was announced that Henderson filed a lawsuit against the

for failing to accommodate his disability with his

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

and wrongful termination, which cost him more than $3 million. Henderson became a substitute eighth-grade math teacher after his playing career.

References

External links

Maryland Terrapins bioMinnesota Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Erin 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Aberdeen, Maryland People with bipolar disorder Players of American football from Harford County, Maryland American football linebackers Maryland Terrapins football players Minnesota Vikings players New York Jets players Avila Eagles football coaches Coaches of American football from Maryland High school football coaches in Maryland