A month or two ago I embarked upon a project of scanning all of the cards in my collection of any other Michigan Baseball alumni not already included on my Player Collections page. That includes anything that arrived via trade, was already in my collection otherwise, or was part of a complete set (or set in-progress). As you can imagine it took quite a while to get everything done, but about 250+ cards later, I finally have something to show for it! These posts will show off new player collections or new cards for existing PCs. Some players will join the group that I supercollect and others will be guys I just pick up whenever I can. If you have anything I don't and feel like trading, please let me know as I'd love to build up these collections!
Today's subject is Drew Henson. I've covered his story a few times through the years, but here's a quick recap. Drew was a multi-sport star in nearby Brighton, Michigan, and arrived as a heralded Michigan QB in 1998. He alternated time with future NFL HOFer Tom Brady at the position for a couple years, often playing second fiddle, then had the job for his own in 2000. However, the Yankees had drafted him in the 3rd round in '98, and he made a deal with the devil (George Steinbrenner) in the form of a six-year, $17 million contract, meaning he left Ann Arbor a year early.
His baseball career was uninspiring, to say the least. He appeared in eight MLB games over two seasons with New York, picking up one career hit in nine ABs. A trade to the Reds in 2000, then back to the Yanks the following year, never improved his lackluster hitting ability.
Henson then gave up his MLB aspirations and entered the 2003 NFL draft, where he was chosen in the 6th round by the Texans. His draft position was about as much as his NFL career had in common with Tom Brady, though. Drew appeared in a total of nine NFL contests (seven with the 2004 Cowboys and two more in Detroit in 2008) and was a career 11/20 passing with a TD and an INT. He's long since retired and become yet another chapter in the book of dual-sport athletes that couldn't find success in either sport.
That's never prevented me from collecting him, though. As you'll see in his player collection Picasa Web Album, I have 12 hits to go along with nine base cards, many of the latter coming from complete sets. I've already shown off all the hits over the course of this blog's run, so today you get to see the rest of my Henson collection, which is one I'll never pursue to completion since he has so many cards, lots of which are hard to find!:
If you're enjoying this series, first of all, great! And secondly, I have four players to go, so stay tuned for several more Michigan Men.
This one I knew, he came with lots of hype. I just pulled (literally, just a few minutes ago) a Henson I don't see up here so when I get around to it, I'll drop it in the mail to you.
ReplyDeleteYep, there's no forgetting Henson, probably more because of the way he left the team and flamed out in the Majors than how he performed on the football field. Oh well, at least he followed his dream.
Delete