Marlon Humphrey on Derrick Henry’s body maintenance: ‘It’s almost obsessive’
With Derrick Henry reaching nearly 200 yards on the ground during Sunday’s rout over Buffalo, teammate Marlon Humphrey credited the running back’s dominance to his diet.
Despite his 30th birthday drifting beyond the horizon, Derrick Henry remained a beacon of physical dominance in Sunday’s blowout win over Buffalo, racking up 199 yards on the ground and a highlight rushing touchdown.
Standing at an imposing 6’3 and 247 pounds, Henry has maintained one of the NFL’s most impressive physiques across his near decade in the league, which teammate Marlon Humphrey attributes to the running back’s “almost obsessive” approach to body maintenance.
“Since he’s been back, I’ve been at his house and around his family quite a bit,” Humphrey told reporters Wednesday. “And this dude, the detail into what he’s eating, the detail into what he’s putting into his body, the detail into what he’s doing; I would say it’s almost obsessive, but it’s very normal to him and his family… He’s an all-time Pro, he’s kind of second to none in that aspect.”
Henry has been a distinctly dominant force at every step of his football journey, capping off his high school career at Yulee High School with a famously absurd stat line. The five-star recruit led the nation with 328 rushing yards per game, averaging out to over 9.2 yards per tote, with 55 touchdowns on the ground as well.
Remaining in the South with juggernauts Alabama, Henry became the most recent running back to win the Heisman Trophy in 2015 with another historically dominant season, racking up 2,219 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground as the Crimson Tide won the second-ever College Football Playoff against Clemson. Henry was selected in the second round of the NFL Draft by Tennessee and quickly made the first 45 selectees regret overlooking the burly running back, earning an All-Pro selection in his second season as a starter and becoming just the second rusher this millennium to eclipse 2,000 yards the following year in 2020.
This historic year earned Henry a 4-year, $50 million contract with the Titans, a notable chunk of which went into maintaining Henry’s dominant build. Speaking to The Athletic’s Dan Pompei, Henry’s financial advisor revealed that the star running back spends upwards of $240,000, hiring a private chef to prepare all of his meals with a strict prohibition on fried foods, gluten, dairy or artificial sugars.
Despite this tremendous discipline and accolated past, Henry struggled to replicate this serial success during his final year in Nashville. He slumped to a career-low 4.2 yards per carry in 2023, after which the Titans elected not to resign Henry, releasing the former Offensive Player of the Year into free agency.
Henry found a perfect stylistic fit with Baltimore this season, pairing with the NFL’s leading rushing quarterback Lamar Jackson in an offense that had the highest percentage of running plays. After a middling Ravens debut, Henry has recaptured his stunning dominance over the last games, averaging more than 7.1 yards per carry while scoring three touchdowns.
