How Derrick Henry is defying Father Time

Yahoo Sports | American Football | 09/11/2025

NFL running backs excelling into their 30s are rare. Derrick Henry’s discipline is why he’s the exception.

By Jeff Eisenberg, Senior writer

Only a week after his bid to reach his first Super Bowl ended in playoff heartbreak in the Buffalo snow last January, Derrick Henry decided he had rested his body long enough.

The bruising Baltimore Ravens running back showed up in workout gear to the Dallas facility where he trains every offseason.

“I’m thinking he came in to say, ‘What’s up? I’m back in Dallas. Let’s reconnect and start talking about what our strategies are going to be for the offseason,’” friend and trainer AJ Billings told Yahoo Sports. “Nope. He said, ‘Let’s get to work. I’m ready to go.’”

Stories like that exemplify how Henry has so far stiff-armed Father Time the same way he does an overmatched would-be tackler. The 31-year-old is a relentless worker who spends a reported $240,000 per year on body maintenance. He has extended his peak into his early 30s because of his voracious two-a-day offseason workout schedule, his dedication to a disciplined diet and his emphasis on healing and recovery.

The shelf life for workhorse running backs is notoriously short. Todd Gurley went from first-team All-Pro at 24 to out of football at 26. Le’Veon Bell and Ezekiel Elliott took their last NFL handoffs at 29. Melvin Gordon was 30. And yet here is Henry still bulldozing defenders, still as powerful and nimble as ever.

Last season, Henry piled up 1,921 rushing yards, breaking Tiki Barber’s single-season record for running backs 30 or older. He was so dominant that the Ravens rewarded him with a two-year, $30 million contract extension, a big-money bet that the five-time Pro Bowler can continue to dominate through his age-33 season in 2027.

That looks like a shrewd gamble one game into the 2025 season. Henry was unstoppable in a season-opening 41-40 loss at Buffalo last Sunday night, ripping off a pair of long touchdown runs on his way to 169 yards on 18 carries. The only blemish was a critical late-game fumble that helped the Bills rally from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit.

If Henry’s age-defying opening-night performance is any indication, he has a chance to reshape conventional wisdom for what a graybeard running back can accomplish. Only four players in history have rushed for more than 5,000 yards after turning 30. Only Frank Gore eclipsed 6,000. Henry could potentially be more than halfway to Gore’s record of 7,161 yards by the end of this season.