There’s a clear distinction of Tier One athletes in Tennessee Football history. Peyton Manning and Reggie White are NFL Hall of Famers who set numerous records at UT. Al Wilson is the leader of the 1998 national championship team. Eric Berry is the inspiring cancer survivor who was a superstar in college and the NFL.
Too often, though, John Henderson’s name has been left off that list. Not anymore.
Although it should have happened a lot earlier, Henderson was announced by the National Football Foundation Wednesday as one of the 22 members of the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class, including 18 players. He’s part of a class that includes Michael Vick, Urban Meyer and Nick Saban.
The defensive tackle’s resume at Tennessee includes a combination of accomplishments very few Vols have ever matched. He is a two-time All-American who won the Outland Trophy in 2000. Berry and Steve DeLong, are the only two other players in school history to be All-Americans multiple times and win the award for the best player at their position.
That’s it. That’s the list.
Somehow, though, Henderson had to wait after all of them to be inducted. DeLong made sense, as he played in the early 1960s. Henderson, however, should not have had to wait to be inducted until after Berry. The two have identical college resumes.
In fact, Henderson’s resume may be more impressive when you consider the fact that he stayed for his senior season in 2001 AFTER winning the Outland. A sure top 10 pick left millions on the table, and did so as a defensive tackle who already has a short shelf-life, just so he could play another year of college ball.
You can’t even use the three-year argument for Berry, who only played three years since he left after his junior year, since Henderson also only played three years. He wasn’t academically eligible yet to play for the 1998 team, so he played from 1999 through 2001.
Simply put, by every metric, Henderson’s resume is up there with the greatest in Tennessee history. His NFL career also stands out, as he was a two-time Pro Bowler who played a decade at that level, most of which were with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Henderson will be the 27th Vol inducted to the Hall when the ceremony takes place on Dec. 9 of this year in Las Vegas at the NFF Annual Awards. He’s the first Tennessee player inducted since Berry himself was back in 2023. Wilson went in 2021, and Manning went in 2017.
