Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry said he hasn’t though at all about retirement and said he feels as good as he ever has. (Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)
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Derrick Henry has one thing left on his bucket list – win a Super Bowl.
The 32-year-old running back is already one of the best runners to ever grace a football field, being the only back in history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season at the high school, college and NFL levels.
He has accomplished seemingly everything imaginable including being a five-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro selection and an NFL Offensive Player of the Year. In addition to those NFL accolades, he’s won the Heisman Trophy, been a College Football National Champion and has led both the NFL and NCAA in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
There’s just one thing missing from the Hall of Fame resume – a Super Bowl. The furthest Henry has advanced in the playoffs is the AFC Championship Game during the 2019 season with the Tennessee Titans.
“Yeah, exactly,” said Henry in a one-on-one interview when asked if Super Bowl is his lone objective. “I want to get that ring. Whatever comes with it, comes with it, but I want to be at the mountain top at the end of the day. That’s my goal.”
Henry has shown no signs of slowing down despite completing his 10th season as a running back. The veteran back is coming off of a season in which he ran for 1,595 yards and 16 touchdowns on 5.2 yards per carry. For the third consecutive season, he didn’t miss a single game.
However, the Baltimore Ravens missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2021 season, finishing 8-9 after losing a tough season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to a missed kick at the end. It also didn’t help that the Ravens lost Lamar Jackson to injury early in the season, causing him to miss four games.
Baltimore went 1-3 in those games without Jackson and started out the season 1-5 before making a late push for the playoffs. However, they came up just short.
“Yeah, I think it’s just being locked in,” said Henry of the key to making a deep postseason run in order to win the Super Bowl. “This season, we came up really short, really disappointed in how the year went. This is just a year to really learn from, a year to watch and reflect on. How we can grow as a team and individually is when we come back, we hit the ground running and ready to face any challenges this next season brings, because we went through the rafts with this season.”
The Ravens moved on from head coach John Harbaugh after 18 seasons, who was the second-longest tenured head coach in the NFL at the time of his firing. That means Baltimore will be searching for their first head coach since Harbaugh took over in 2008.
Henry called Harbaugh a “great coach” and said he “enjoyed” his time with the Super Bowl champion head coach. He referred to Harbaugh as a “Hall of Fame” coach who always conducted himself in a “first class” way.
The five-time Pro Bowl back is looking at this past season in an optimistic manner, saying it “was needed” in order for himself and the Ravens to reach the next level.
“This past season was needed,” said Henry. “It got us a chance to experience adversity as a group and so on the next season, we already know what that’s like. We can go and focus and then ready to take on anything that comes our way, and stay close and get ready to get out there and get what we want.”
When asked if he has thought about retirement or a timetable for how much longer he plans to play, said he hasn’t thought about retirement at all.
Henry makes it clear he feels great as he will prepare to enter his 11th season in 2026. He details that he started changing up his diet after his sixth year (that was the 2021 season) and that his workout routine remains largely the same as it was when he was a rookie back in 2016.
“I usually do my same workout routine,” said Henry. “I might add some stuff, I have added heels going into my fourth or fifth year, which I fell in love with. I do it all the time and then just add some things here and there, whatever my trainer wants to do and speed coach wants to do.
“I started dieting after my sixth year when I broke my foot, just because my diet was just terrible,” Henry continued to say. “I didn’t really eat healthy. It didn’t matter what I ate, and I wanted to challenge myself to see if I can do it like throughout the whole season. I did, and I love the response my body had to it, so I just kept it going.”
Derrick Henry Partners With PEPCID For NFL Playoffs
The 10-year veteran is partnering up with PEPCID during the NFL playoffs, which is well known for their heartburn relief. Henry details how the heartburn relief brand helps him with his diet and routine.
Henry said he’s been using PEPCID for “four or five years now” even though he just partnred with PEPCID recently.
“I was actually excited because I use PEPCID very frequently, and I just thought it was perfect that I was able to partner with them, especially with PEPCID complete, which works fast, especially when I have my cheat meals,” said Henry. “I’m sure everybody, all the fans out there that have cheat meals would know the same thing. Because I’m fast and PEPCID is fast as well. I think it was the perfect collaboration.
“I’m just trying to encourage fans watching the playoffs or whenever the Super Bowl comes, when they’re having those big cheat meals and indulging in those cmeals that nothing works as fast as PEPCID complete,” Henry continued to say. “I’m happy for the partnership. Just trying to let fans know that PEPCID is a way to go if you want to indulge in something that’s not good.”