Maryland LB E.J. Henderson Inducted Into College Football Hall of Fame

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Former Maryland linebacker E.J. Henderson, the lone subordinate successful schoolhouse past to doubly beryllium named a First Team All-American, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame during a ceremonial successful Las Vegas connected Tuesday night.

Henderson joined erstwhile Maryland players Bob Ward, Jack Scarbath, Dick Modzelewski, Randy White, Bob Pellegrini and Stan Jones successful the hall, which is reserved for players who person received First Team All-America recognition, the assemblage said.

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As a subordinate of the Terrapins, Henderson recorded 473 tackles, 2nd astir successful schoolhouse history, and successful his elder play won the Bednarik Award arsenic the country’s champion antiaircraft subordinate and the Butkus Award arsenic the champion assemblage linebacker.

“Playing astatine Maryland was peculiar due to the fact that it was similar the assemblage dream,” said Henderson, a autochthonal of Aberdeen. “When you spell to assemblage you privation to play astatine the large clip level, you privation to play against the champion and we got to unrecorded that life. Coach (Ralph) Friedgen was a large portion of that, helium came successful and changed the culture. He enactment a batch of enactment down what we were doing.”

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Hired successful 2001, Friedgen led Maryland to the ACC rubric and an quality successful the Orange Bowl successful his archetypal season. His inferior linebacker won ACC Player of the Year honors aft starring the league successful tackles per crippled (13.6) and tackles for nonaccomplishment (28), the assemblage said.

A twelvemonth aboriginal the Terps went 11-2 successful the regular play and bushed Tennessee successful the Peach Bowl. Henderson won Defensive MVP honors successful the game.

The Minnesota Vikings selected Henderson with a second-round prime successful the 2003 NFL Draft. In a nine-year pro career, each of it spent with the Vikings, Henderson had 761 combined tackles, 15 1/2 sacks and 13 forced fumbles. He was selected to the Pro Bowl successful 2011.

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Friedgen attended the ceremonial successful Las Vegas, on with Maryland’s existent caput manager Michael Locksley, who was moving backs manager with the Terps from 1997 to 2002, and athletics manager Damon Evans.

Brandon Weigel