Having fun
Star SUU runner knows what
football is really about
By KATIE M. ANDERSON
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL
Charles “Chuck” Henderson said he just wants
to play football.
There was always an understanding among he and his friends
that they would all play football when they became freshmen
in high school.
“But as time went on, (football) started getting
more personal, (with) more competition,” Henderson
said. “I love it. Football is fun.”
Henderson was born and raised in Chicago until he was
14. His mom, a single mother and respiratory therapist,
found another job in Las Vegas, so the family moved.
He said growing up in a single-parent family has been
a good influence on him. Many students he played sports
with were in gangs. He said he believes it was his mom’s
parenting that kept him out of gangs in Chicago and Las
Vegas, not just sports.
“It comes from parenting,” Henderson said.
“People can say that boys and girls clubs will keep
you out of gangs, but it just comes from home.”
Henderson said he doesn’t feel a loss from growing
up without a dad. His mom’s younger brothers and
sisters were always around, and he said he doesn’t
feel as though he missed out on anything because “someone
was always there for me.”
“(My mom) is like my father and my mom,” Henderson
said. “She was there for me all the time; when I
was down or when I was up, she was always there.”
He was more of a basketball player than a football player
during high school and played point guard on the Clark
High School basketball team.
“Then the opportunity came to play football,”
he said. “In football, when someone makes you mad,
you can just take it out on them the next play. You can’t
do that in basketball.”
He played running back throughout high school before being
switched to quarterback his senior year. He also played
inside linebacker.
“It was high school. They have you play everything,”
he said.
He was recruited to play basketball at junior colleges,
but he said the small colleges didn’t appeal to
him. Then, C. Ray Gregory, head football coach, and Kyle
A. Davis, assistant football coach, came to recruit him
for SUU football.
“I didn’t know anything about SUU,”
Henderson said. “I just wanted to play, and they
said they’d give me the opportunity to play quarterback.
So here I am.”
In the three years Henderson has attended SUU, he has
played slotback, running back, quarterback and fullback.
He is now playing starting slotback.
“I just want to win,” he said. “I don’t
care what position I’m in.”
Henderson said he feels that by playing so many positions,
he understands the offense better.
“Right now I know the offense front and back,”
he said. “I even know what some of the offensive
linemen are doing.”
Even after being switched to four different positions,
it didn’t occur to Henderson to be disappointed.
“When they told me I was moving to slot, I said
I’d just give it my all when I’m at slot,”
he said. “No matter where you’re at, just
give it your all.”
His goal this season is to win. He said he doesn’t
care what position he is put into, he only wants a chance
to help out the team.
“Winning is what you go out there for,” Henderson
said. “(But), whatever I can do to help with the
team, that’s what I want to be able to do . . .
even if it’s just holding or long snapper.”
His favorite part of football is the brotherhood and unity
within the team.
“(It’s) just . . . the willingness to come
together as a family,” he
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SUU’s Charles Henderson outruns defenders
during a Thunderbird victory last year. Henderson
has played four positions for the football team and
is the top returning rusher, having gained 586 yards
on the ground a year ago. He has ran for 8 touchdowns
and thrown for another in his two seasons. An excellent
student and a loyal member of Kappa Alpha Psi, Henderson
has done well in areas beside the football team.
ERIN MADSON / UNIVERSITY JOURNAL
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said.Henderson also said he enjoys the closeness he has
with his coaches.
“I feel I can talk to (the coaches),” he said.
“They’re more open, they’re more like
friends, you know.”
Henderson said he spends his time before games focusing
and preparing for the upcoming challenge by listening to
gospel music.
He also said he is in shape for the 2002 season.
“I worked hard over the summer,” he said, “and
I feel the coaches are getting us (in shape) with the three-a-days.”
Henderson is a physical education/special education double
major. He plans on coaching high school sports and working
with mentally and physically challenged children.
When he was in high school, his weight training class had
students from special education, which he said has helped
him feel comfortable around people with disabilities.
“They were just the coolest,” Henderson said.
“You just treat them like normal people.”
Henderson said he doesn’t plan to play for the NFL.
He won’t turn down an offer, but he said he doesn’t
have his heart set on playing at the next level.
“My number one goal is to get an education,”
he said.
Once his education is complete, Henderson said he won’t
be staying in Utah to coach or teach.
“Utah doesn’t seem like a fun place to be,”
he said. “I think Utah has nice scenery, but it’s
more of a retirement place . . . It’s not a place
to raise kids.”
He said he doesn’t listen to the news because it’s
depressing and there is always something negative discussed.
“My news is SportsCenter,” he said.
Henderson and the ’Birds fell to Troy State on Saturday,
but Henderson showed his versatility by stepping in for
injured quarterback Dustin Randolph and leading SUU to a
scoring drive late in the game.
“Chuck did a real nice job for us,” SUU coach
C. Ray Gregory said. “He ran hard and got us in there.”
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