CFL.ca will profile a number of key CIS prospects leading up to the CFL Evaluation Camp from March 12-14 in Toronto. In today’s feature we look back at the courage and triumph of University of Manitoba Running Back Matt Henry.
Brian Snelgrove
CFL.ca
His boyhood hero was the Man of Steel.
It was the biggest game of his life and Matt Henry lay in agony on the field at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
The scene was the 2007 Vanier Cup and the University of Manitoba Running Back had just reeled off a 31-yard gain for the Bisons. He was cut down on a clean tackle by Saint Mary’s Defensive Back Jeff Zelinski and was obviously in excruciating pain. After a lengthy delay, Henry was carried off the field on a stretcher.
Matt Henry would spend the rest of the Vanier Cup in hospital as the Bisons capped a perfect 12-0 season with a 28-14 victory over the Huskies.
Further examination revealed that his right femur had been broken – shattered in fact – in three separate places.
“I didn’t have time to brace myself,” says the 22-year-old Mississauga native who has fought back from the potential career-ending injury and will be attending this year’s CFL E-Camp. “I just glanced to my left and boom. At first I wasn’t sure it was broken but when I tried to move it, the bottom half of my leg wouldn’t move. I realized then that it was broken.”
His season was over but his career was not. At the hospital doctors re-assured Henry that he would be able to play again. “They inserted a metal rod in my leg and told me when I got back to school I would need therapy twice a day, he explains. “I was prepared to do whatever it took.”
Nine months of painful rehabilitation followed.
“For the first two or three months I was on crutches and then one crutch and finally after about four months I was walking normally,” says Henry. “The only thing that kept me going was my desire to play again.”
“His response to the injury is really what defines him,” says Bison Head Coach Brian Dobie. “He is an outstanding football player who overcame a horrendous injury and used that as a motivation to take it to the next level. A lot of people couldn’t have worked their way through that.”
“The injury was extremely painful for Matt,” adds Dobie. “We were all afraid it might be the end of the road. There was no way of knowing for certain whether or not he would be okay. But after training camp, around mid-season we were playing Saskatchewan and he ran for about six yards but kept moving and moving the pile. He refused to go down. That’s when I knew he was back. That was absolutely a defining moment.”
The 6-foot, 210 pound Sociology Major has been a model of consistency throughout his career at Manitoba. He finished sixth in rushing in Canada West in 2006 with 625 yards. In 2007 he picked up 616 yards on the ground and was named a conference all-star. In 2008, following the injury, he had his best season with 654 yards rushing on 152 carries. Last year Henry played in the East-West all-star game as he led the Bisons in rushing with 638 yards on 137 carries. In both 2008 and ’09 he was named a team captain. He sits second in career rushing yards for the Bisons with 2,533 and second in career rushes with 482.
As for Henry’s strengths entering E-Camp, Dobie is emphatic. “He brings his athleticism. He is in tremendous shape, is strong, powerful and has proven he is durable,” he says. “But more than anything else he has great vision and is arguably the best blocking tail back we’ve ever had here.”
“My strength, my vision, my ability to see the field really well, I’m pretty explosive and a good blocker. This should all help me,” says the courageous Running Back who will return for a fifth year at Manitoba if he doesn’t make it in the CFL. “I need to work on my speed and quickness.”
“This whole experience of going through such a serious injury has been a life-changing event for me,” says Henry, who appropriately enough, sports a Superman tattoo on his left shoulder. “I appreciate life, family, friends and teammates more and it has made me a stronger person. I don’t take life for granted. I don’t take anything for granted. Even walking.”
