Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson

NFL player

Color=silver
fontcolor=#000080
Name=Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson
DateOfBirth=Birth date and age|1953|3|3|mf=y
Birthplace= Austin, Texas
DateofDeath=
Position=Linebacker
number=56
College=Langston
DraftedYear=1975
DraftedRound=1 / Pick 18
Stats=Y
DatabaseFootball=HENDETHO01
PFR=HendTh00
years=1975-1979
1980
1980
teams=Dallas Cowboys
Houston Oilers
San Francisco 49ers
ProBowls=1978

Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson (born March 3, 1953 in Austin, Texas) was an American football linebacker in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys (1975-79).

He was raised by his teenage mother in the eastside of Austin, Texas. In 1969, he moved to Oklahoma City to live with his grandmother for a more stable environment. Although he became an all-city defensive end, he was not recruited by colleges. After graduation he joined the Air Force, but quit before being sworn in. Henderson attended and played college football at the NAIA school Langston University. Gil Brandt, the chief scout of the Dallas Cowboys, noticed him and selected him in the 1st round (18th overall) of the 1975 NFL Draft.

"Hollywood" excelled as an outside linebacker, earning All-Pro honors for the 1977 season. Thomas was such a good athlete that the Cowboys used him to run reverses on kickoffs from time to time, with him scoring on one occasion. He was one of the first linebackers to run a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash. However, his destructive lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, and women began to catch up with him. During many games, including Super Bowl XIII (1979), he used cocaine on the sideline. He was such a disruptive influence on the team that coach Tom Landry fired him just before the Thanksgiving Day game in 1979. The final straw came during a 1979 nationally-televised game against the Washington Redskins at RFK Stadium. While his team was being beaten soundly, Henderson was mugging for the camera and displaying handkerchiefs with the Cowboys team logo. When interviewed about it, he blamed teammate Preston Pearson, saying that Pearson had asked him to show off the handkerchiefs as a favor. "Landry had given me plenty of warning," Henderson admits. The next year would be his last, as he bounced from the Houston Oilers (1980) to the San Francisco 49ers (1980), while continuing to use drugs.

In November, 1983, Henderson was arrested for smoking crack cocaine with two teenage girls in California. He was accused of threatening with a gun and sexually assaulting them. He claimed that he gave them crack in exchange for consensual sex. He pleaded no contest to the charges and served eight months in court-ordered drug rehabilitation, as well as two years in prison. He states that "Hollywood" died on November 8, 1983, and he has remained clean ever since. His autobiography, "Out of Control: Confessions of an NFL Casualty", written with co-author Peter Knobler, was published in 1987. In 1993, his old coach and critic Tom Landry was among those who congratulated him on ten years of clean living.

Henderson made the news again in 2000 by winning the Lotto Texas $28 million jackpot. He started a charity (East Side Youth Services & Street Outreach) and has made major donations to the East Austin community where he grew up. He currently gives motivational speeches and sells videos of his anti-drug seminars (HHH 56 Investments Ltd.). When asked by the Dallas Morning News what he does every day now that he won the lottery, Henderson responded, "Not a damn thing, and I don't start that until after lunch."

Henderson is fond of saying, "Sobriety IS an option"...

Awards

*Langston University Athletic Hall of Fame (2002)
*Pro Bowl (1978)

Books

*"Out of Control: Confessions of an NFL Casualty" by Thomas Henderson and Peter Knobler (1987) (ISBN 0-399-13264-3)
*"In Control: The Rebirth of an NFL Legend" by Thomas Henderson and Frank Luksa (2004) (ISBN 0-9759890-0-6)

External links

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