TAMPA, Fla. – Drew Henson walked out of the clubhouse and
into the sunshine, standing in his new Yankees' pinstripes, exactly
where he wanted to be.
Football was a job. Baseball is a love.
|  | | Drew Henson stretches his legs before his first workout Monday at the Yankees' minor-league complex. |
"When I'm 40 and have kids," he said, "I'll tell them I could
have been a good football player but I went with what my dream
was."
He traded his No. 7 Michigan jersey for a No. 69 Yankees'
uniform, following the path of Lou Gehrig, who went to Columbia on
a football scholarship, then helped lead the Yankees to their first
seven World Series titles.
He gave up the chance to win this season's Heisman Trophy and
the opportunity to be the No. 1 pick in next year's NFL draft for a
life that starts in the minor leagues, where he'll spend the summer
in Columbus, Ohio, a territory where he has been the enemy, at
least in the eyes of Ohio State fans.
His mom, pop and little sister made the trip from Michigan to
watch him start the journey and watched his news conference at the
Yankees' minor league complex. He has no doubt that he'll be
triumphant.
"Everything I competed in in my life, that I devoted all my
effort to, has been successful," he said. "I don't expect that to
change."
If that's the case, a year from now he'll be getting ready for
his first opening day as New York's third baseman. That was the
goal when the Yankees agreed late Friday night to a $17 million,
six-year contract.
Henson, 21, could have been an NFL star, but that's not what he
wanted. Pro football can be a grind, with five or six days of
practice between games, with cold weather and mud, with players who
must adapt to the "system" of whatever coach is brought in.
For Henson, baseball brings back memories of spring and summer
in the sun, of individuality. Football players work out in the
morning, go to meetings, memorize game plans and opponents.
By midsummer, baseball players are used to a different routine,
They get to the ballpark in early afternoon, take batting practice,
do their running and throwing, then play and head out for a bite or
a drink.
They must be "up" for a game every day, but not get so "up"
that it will exhaust them over the grind of 6– weeks of spring
training, 162 games over 26 weeks and then a possible four-week
postseason with three intense series.
It wasn't right for John Elway, who played in the Yankees' farm
system and left for the Denver Broncos.
It wasn't right for Josh Booty, who failed with the Florida
Marlins and entered this year's NFL draft.
But it was what Henson wanted.
"Getting up every day and you're knowing you're going to
compete, play a game that counts," he said. "You get to sleep in
in the morning, play in the afternoon in beautiful weather."
Brian Cashman, the Yankees' general manager, thinks Henson was a
baseball player who just happened to play football, too. The former
quarterback agreed.
"From a mental standpoint, I think a little more like a
baseball player than a football player," he said.
There were a few attractions to life as a quarterback that
caused him to deliberate after the Yankees' reacquired him from
Cincinnati last Wednesday. But he didn't want to wait a year until
the NFL draft approached, when the chance to be taken by the
expansion Houston Texans as the first pick would have been more
immediate.
"Because of the upfront dollars in football and the opportunity
to be a franchise quarterback, the decision would have been more
difficult than it was right now," he said.
New York pressed him for a quick decision, thinking the longer
he was surrounded by friends, teammates and coaches in Ann Arbor,
the more he would be tugged toward football.
"My teammates were great about it," he said. "If any of them
were in my position, they would have done the same thing. I'm going
to keep in touch with them for a long time."
He's had only 600 at-bats as a professional baseball player,
batting .275 with 23 home runs.
One of the reasons he decided to skip his senior season at
Michigan was to get a full season of minor league baseball and fall
league action in before spring training next year. That's the only
way he thought he'd have a chance to make the Yankees in 2002.
It jolted him when the Yankees traded him to Cincinnati last
July to get Denny Neagle. Maybe he needed that to happen for him to
make up his mind.
"It's hard to say never, but I'm definitely a 100 percent
baseball player," he said. "There's always going to e questions,
mostly from people on the outside. I'm comfortable where I'm at." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | |
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