John Henderson 2025 NFF COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS

John Henderson

By Matt Fortuna

John Henderson needed a moment after learning that he would be entering the NFF College Football Hall of Fame. He couldn't truly process the magnitude of the accomplishment upon opening a box containing a commemorative football informing him of his induction.

"I was in shock," the Tennessee great said.

He might have been the only one. His college career was that dominant.

Henderson is the 23rd former Volunteers player to make the Hall of Fame, this after a run in Knoxville that saw him win the Outland Trophy, earn SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors and finish as a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy.

"When I really think about it, it always starts at home with Mom and Dad and my high school coaches there and teachers," Henderson said of the honor. "And then you go to college and you think about Coach (Phillip) Fulmer and Coach (Dan) Brooks. You just know that all of those people played a big role in your life in getting you ready for different moments."

Henderson's time with the Vols came amid a run of football legends that included fellow NFF College Football Hall of Famers Al Wilson and Peyton Manning. Both may have been older - and in Manning's case, the two did not play together - but the culture that those icons helped instill carried over to Henderson and future generations.

"Just being around the guys was a really big thing for me," Henderson said. "The workouts together, doing everything together, building that bond and brotherhood."

Even amid those giants of the game, the 6-foot-7, 300-plus-pound Henderson managed to stand out. That star-studded defensive line room in particular left players with no other choice but to do everything they possibly could to keep up.

"Oh my gosh, yes. We were really talented from the end position to defensive tackle," Henderson said. "I learned so much from the Shaun Ellises to the Darwin Walkers and Corey Terrys and the ones that were there before us. Just feeding off them, especially from that '98 national championship team. We were looking at them, seeing how they were working and doing it. B.J. (Bernard Jackson), Omari (Hand), Rashad Moore and I were like, 'We gotta be like that.' We were very dominant. I was proud of them. I was proud to play with those guys."

Numbers don't do Henderson's career justice - they don't do any interior linemen justice, really - but the Nashville native still managed to post 12 sacks and 21 tackles for loss in 2000, a year that saw the Tennessee defense set a school record for fewest rushing yards allowed in a single season (817).

Henderson tallied 162 total tackles, 38.5 tackles for loss, 20.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and seven pass breakups for his college career, leading to the Jaguars selecting him No. 9 overall in the 2002 NFL Draft. The do-it-all tackle spent his first eight NFL seasons in Jacksonville, making two Pro-Bowls and earning one All-Pro nod, before closing his career in Oakland with the Raiders for two seasons.

Henderson founded the Luvthekidz Foundation, which helps improve the lives of children with disabilities. The charity is in honor of their daughter, Talia, who passed away after battling cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

"I look at the game now for me and what it's done, it gave me a great platform for life," Henderson said. "It taught me how to deal with marriage and kids. When things happen in the game, a bad play, we don't get mad at each other; we go say, 'My fault, my bad, we've got to do this right.' It made life better for me."