Alabama Football: Derrick Henry fortunate to be a Titan

Alabama football takes pride in building football players into exemplary men. With Derrick Henry, it was just finishing the job begun by his grandmother.

Former Alabama football player Derrick Henry grew up in tough circumstances, sustained by a Grandmother’s love. He learned humility, determination and dedication to the ethic of work.

This spring he took classes in Tuscaloosa, working to finish a bachelor’s degree. Those classes caused Derrick to miss Titans’ voluntary workouts. NFL teams frown on such decisions but Henry is fortunate to be a Titan and play for running backs coach Sylvester Croom.

According to Alec Shirkey of SEC Country.

"“Derrick Henry was the 15th child raised by (his Grandmother) Gladys after his mother and father had him at the ages of 15 and 16, respectively.”"

By almost any standard, Derrick grew up poor. But he grew up rich in spirit and love. In high school, he played for a team some described as:

"“a second-rate high school football team that wasn’t well coached or staffed”"

Most players in Derrick’s situation would have come up short, never playing football for a big school and certainly never winning a Heisman Trophy.

Unfortunately, this well-known story does not appear to impress Tennessee Titans’ head coach Mike Mularkey. Mularkey and some Titans’ players were not pleased when Derrick worked out in Tuscaloosa rather than with the team in Tennessee.

Jason Wolf of the USA Today network reported Mike Mularkey said:

"“I didn’t reach out to Derrick. All the players know our schedule … I didn’t feel like I needed to follow up. He’s been informed … He doesn’t have to (report) None of them have to. Again, we’ve got a good group going on, working right now. From what I understand, he’s in school, and I don’t think there’s anything negative about that.”"

Other sources stated the only other veteran not participating in the voluntary workouts was a recently retired Titan.

According to Jim Wyatt of titansonline.com

"“Henry was back at Saint Thomas Sports Park on Monday. During the first two weeks of the team’s voluntary offseason program, the running back was taking classes at the University of Alabama.”"

Titans running backs coach and Alabama football legend Sylvester Croom was happy to have Henry back at work with the team. Unlike Mularkey, Croom soothed any friction with his words, praising Derrick for the training he had been doing in Tuscaloosa.

Sylvester stated as reported by Jim Wyatt.

"“It’s obvious he’s been doing a whole lot of work in the time he’s been away. There is no problem with Derrick. The guy was in school, he is here now, and he is working. So we are moving forward from there.”"

Sylvester Croom will probably never be a head coach again, certainly not in the NFL or in the SEC. That is another story, one best described as bittersweet. But there is nothing bitter about Sylvester. Try to find someone in football with something bad to say about Sylvester Croom. You will fail. He is one of the most respected men in the game.

Derrick Henry is fortunate to have Croom as his position coach. Sylvester is the kind of man of whom Derrick’s grandmother would approve. Titans’ coach Mularkey would do well to take some communication lessons from his assistant coach.

Or, since a phone call seemed to be a bridge too far, Mularkey could have checked out Derrick’s Instagram post about his Tuscaloosa workouts.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSHYN2GlDns/?taken-by=last_king_2

In fairness to Mularkey, maybe we are missing something. Even so, it seems clear that Derrick is missing nothing.

Next: Alabama Football's Greatest Games

It is a big weekend in Tuscaloosa. The Tide takes on Auburn in the Softball Iron Bowl. The Rhoads house will be rocking. We’ll bring you all the details.