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OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- All of the names resonate with Derrick Henry.
Eric Dickerson was a big back with a unique combination of power and speed. He just played in a different era. Adrian Peterson was coming off a near-1,500-yard season when Henry entered the league and was the quintessential home-run threat who also wore defenses down with his physicality. Barry Sanders was Mr. Consistent, a true generational talent who was devoted to his craft.
And Henry knows all about Emmitt Smith. Fourteen years ago, Henry broke Smith's Florida prep rushing mark. He also spends time in the offseason training and running hills in Dallas with Smith's son, E.J.
Yet even on a list of legends, one name stands out to Henry.
"LaDainian Tomlinson, for sure," Henry said in a recent interview. "I had his bobblehead. I had his jersey. I wanted to be just like him until I got older and I (thought), 'Maybe I'm not the same size as LaDainian, and maybe I have a different skill set.' That was my guy. If my name gets close to his and the accolades that he has, and the history he's accomplished playing the game, that will definitely be cool."
Tomlinson looks at Henry these days and thinks of another legendary running back.
"To me, he's the modern-day Jim Brown," Tomlinson said to The Athletic. "That's what he is."
Henry, Baltimore's venerable 32-year-old running back, is occupying rarefied air. With his 144-yard, three-touchdown performance in the Ravens' season-opening 41-23 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, Henry moved into third on the league's all-time rushing touchdown list with 125, passing Marcus Allen. Only Smith (164) and Tomlinson (145) are ahead of him.
If he runs for more than 97 yards Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, Henry (13,162) would surpass Dickerson (13,259) and move into ninth place all time in rushing yards. With a 1,500-yard season -- and that's a conservative estimate after he rushed for 1,595 yards last year and 1,921 in his first season as a Raven in 2024 -- Henry would move beyond Dickerson, Jerome Bettis (13,662), Tomlinson (13,684) and Curtis Martin (14,101) into sixth all time.
Smith's hallowed mark of 18,355 rushing yards is probably safe for a while, but with Henry continuing to post eye-popping numbers well into his 30s, it suddenly doesn't seem out of the question that he could at least threaten it.
"If he can stay healthy, he could do it," said Barry Sanders, who is fourth all time with 15,269 rushing yards. "He's going to get the carries in Baltimore. It will be fun to watch either way, and I will be rooting for him and all of the RBs. There is kind of a resurgence of that position right now, and it's fitting to have King Henry at the front of it."
When the Ravens signed Henry during the 2024 offseason, it felt like the perfect fit -- a Super Bowl-caliber team that prides itself on running the football adding the workhorse back of his era and pairing him with Lamar Jackson, one of the most dynamic quarterbacks the league has seen.
From a production standpoint, it's probably worked out even better than the Ravens could have hoped. Since joining Baltimore, the 6-foot-3, 252-pound Henry leads the NFL in rushing yards (3,660) and rushing touchdowns (35).
Each year brings the question of whether he will finally slow down in a league that is typically unkind to 30-plus-year-old backs, and each game seems to present contrary evidence.
"As Derrick keeps getting older, you start thinking, 'He cannot do this forever.' Then he kind of does (what he did Sunday), and it's like, 'Maybe he can,'" said Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who was also Henry's teammate at Alabama.
Henry hasn't missed a game since turning 30. During that span, he's gained 5.6 yards per carry and 104.6 rushing yards per game on an average of 18.7 rushing attempts. He's also totaled 37 touchdowns.
"He's my favorite back in the league," said Dickerson. "I like his physicality and everything he brings to the game. To me, if he's not the top back, he's one of the top two or three backs in the NFL. Not every back could play in any era, to be honest with you, but he could. You could put him in the '50s, the '60s, the '70s, '80s, '90s and right now. His game transcends time."
Dickerson, who is 6-foot-3 and played at 220 pounds, remembers meeting Henry several years ago and his first thought was, "Damn, you make me look little."
Dickerson's appreciation grew from there. His son, Dallis, is an eighth grader, and his youth football coach instructed him to get lower when he runs. Dickerson pointed out to the coach that not only did the upright running style work for him, but it's working just fine for Henry, too.
"I don't think he's a good back; he's a great back," Dickerson said of Henry. "And the thing about a great back, they have to game plan for you. Teams can't just show up and say, 'We don't have to worry about (No.) 22.' You better worry about 22."
Sanders has gotten to know Henry while filming the Nissan Heisman House commercials. Henry has made a major impression on him not only with his size and physical traits, but with his "throwback mindset" and respect for the game and its history. Sanders has long predicted that Henry will become the 11th Heisman winner to go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"I just admire his consistent greatness," Sanders said, describing Henry as a throwback in the mold of Brown or Earl Campbell. "From high school to the Heisman and soon to the Hall, he has been great at every level, and it's hard to be consistent at such a high level over so many years. I did not start at running back until the fourth game of my senior year in high school.
"What Derrick has done from a young age until now is just incredible. I love to watch him run."
Sanders retired after 10 NFL seasons with the Detroit Lions, 153 games and 3,062 carries. Henry is one game into his 11th season and has played 154 games, plus nine in the postseason. He's had 2,884 career carries.
For many legendary backs, maintaining good health and producing consistently into their 30s was a challenge.
Dickerson played four seasons in his 30s, and his best was a 729-yard campaign for the then-Los Angeles Raiders in 1992. Peterson led the league with 1,485 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015 as a 30-year-old with the Minnesota Vikings, but he reached the 1,000-yard plateau just once over his final six seasons. In Bettis' four seasons as a 30-plus-year-old back, he posted 666, 811, 941 and 368 yards for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2002 to 2005.
Henry's years at 30-plus, meanwhile, have more closely mirrored other greats like Smith, Martin and Frank Gore. Martin, the league's sixth all-time leading rusher at 14,101 yards, rushed for an NFL-high 1,697 yards as a 31-year-old for the New York Jets in 2004. Gore, third all time with 16,000 rushing yards, averaged over 1,000 yards from age 30 through 34. Smith played until he was 35 and gained over 900 yards in all but one of his six seasons after turning 30.
"They didn't have the resources that we have," Henry said, dismissing the idea that putting up big rushing numbers in today's pass-happy NFL should be singled out. "Everything we have access to now helps us reach our full potential every single day. Those guys didn't have that, and they were still able to accomplish everything that they were able to accomplish.
"I look at it that way, not to diminish or look down on what those guys accomplished in that era. It's a different type of game, and I think it's more cool the things that they accomplished."
From sprinting up hills with chains around his neck to pushing oversized tires, Henry's offseason workout regimen is the stuff of legend, and so is his commitment to his diet. That probably best explains his longevity and consistency, even though he nearly had 1,400 carries at Yulee High School in Florida, just over 600 at Alabama and now almost 3,000 in the NFL.
"He has natural gifts, obviously, as a running back. He has the size/speed combination," Tomlinson said. "But with all that being said, I've been really impressed with how he prepares to play the game.
"That's really what it takes to be great for a long, extended period of time. You have to put yourself through grueling offseason workouts to prepare your body for what you're going to go through during the season, and Derrick has never slacked on that. He's faced it like a champ."
When Tomlinson worked for NFL Network, he visited Tennessee Titans training camp for a sit-down with Henry. The two exchanged numbers and have remained in touch since. Tomlinson said if he's not traveling on Sundays, he makes sure to tune in to the Ravens because he enjoys watching Henry.
"To me, it's the stamina of being able to get better throughout the season. That's what's so impressive," Tomlinson said. "He gets better the more carries he gets throughout the game. He's always better in the fourth quarter. And then, later in November and December, he seems to be running his best. Even late in the season when it gets cold and you've got the bumps and bruises, Derrick doesn't seem fazed by that stuff at all."
Henry, who will turn 33 in January, has made it clear he hasn't even thought about retiring. He's signed with the Ravens through the 2027 season. He also maintains that his motivation is winning a Super Bowl and not breaking any records.
However, the attention will become unavoidable if he continues on this trajectory. Even Smith, the legendary Dallas Cowboys back, recently told DraftKings he believes Henry could unseat him as the NFL's all-time leading rusher, just like he did in 2012 when Henry shattered his high school mark.
It would take remarkable consistency and durability. Henry enters Week 2 trailing Smith by 5,193 yards. If Henry rushes for 1,500 over the next three seasons, he'd still be a little over 500 yards short of Smith's mark.
"I wouldn't put anything past that dude. I just wouldn't," Tomlinson said. "The way he looks now, he has another three, four strong years even. If that's what we're talking about and he's going to be in an offense hopefully with Lamar Jackson, that can ease some of the pressure off the running game. You have to think it's possible."
For now, just hearing his name in that company is enough for Henry.
"Seeing how long they did it and the success that they had, I just wanted to be like them," Henry said. "It really comes down to idolizing them."