Derrick Henry's One Regret With Stiff Arms

The Tennessee Titans running back says he feels bad when the opposing player has to relive the moment repeatedly via highlight reels.

Matt Pendleton/For the Florida Times-Union / USA Today Network

Derrick Henry believes that some opposing players get exactly what they deserve when they try to tackle him. That is, of course, the stiff arm.

The Tennessee Titans running back’s ability to shrug off defenders in a violent and demoralizing manner – among other things – has made him one of the popular and appealing players in the league.

Each time he does is a highlight, and that is the part Henry regrets somewhat because highlights are meant to be shared and reviewed multiple times. For example, his destruction of former Buffalo Bills cornerback Josh Norman early in the 2020 season – arguably Henry’s most famous stiff-arm to date – has been viewed more than 3.3 million times on YouTube.

“I just feel bad because when they play highlights, it’s constantly on highlights,” Henry said Friday on the Jim Rome Show. “I feel bad for the dude.

“It feels awesome in the time. Then they keep playing it, and I’m sure (the victim) is like, ‘Dang, why do they keep playing this?’ … When you keep playing it over and over, I know they’re tired of it.”

At 6-foot-3, 247 pounds, Henry is one of the NFL’s biggest players at his position and can run over defensive backs and even some linebackers, if he chooses. Instead, he prefers to keep them at arm’s length whenever possible.

“I’m lanky, I have long arms – so when I used to play in Pop Warner or little league, it always came natural,” he told Rome. “Then as I started getting older, I started doing more curls and got a little more muscle, I tried to use it more effectively.”

Since he became a starter in 2018, Henry has rushed for 5,563 yards, won two rushing titles and was the 2020 Offensive Player of the Year. Of his total, 3,184 yards (57.2 percent) have come after contact.

And sometimes that contact results in the defender being flung to the ground.

“Yeah, I’ve been doing the stiff arm for a long time,” he said. “I always know it’s a good one when you hear the crowd go crazy. And then my teammates come up to me and say something.”