Derrick Henry's next-level stiff-arm: 'If it's against me, I want it to be illegal'

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry was in his second year of Pop Warner football when he discovered the move that would strike fear into defenders over the next two decades.

At seven years old, Henry was a tall and lanky running back who saw a defender closing in for the tackle. Then, he just did it.

Henry extended his arm and shoved his opponent to the ground.

"It was just something that came natural to me," Henry said. "So, I just kept putting my arm out there, and I would go for 50 yards."

Henry's signature stiff-arm has helped him become one of the NFL's all-time great running backs and leave smudges on the reputations of the best defensive players in the league. When Henry outmuscles Pro Bowl linebackers and defensive backs, it can cause years of embarrassment, leaving more mental scars than physical ones.

If Henry gets one-on-one with a would-be tackler when the Ravens play the Detroit Lions on Monday night (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN), he will likely unleash his stiff-arm, which might lead to another long run as well as a meme on social media.

Ravens cornerback Chidobe Awuzie remembers the time four seasons ago when he played against Henry in a Bengals-Titans playoff game and just escaped a stiff-arm.

"My life definitely flashed before me," Awuzie said. "You don't want to end up on Twitter for the wrong reasons."

Some running backs break free by juking out defenders. Others rely on spin moves. Henry has perfected this old-school tactic of using his free hand to toss would-be tacklers out of his way.

Henry has recorded 64 career stiff-arms on rushing attempts since 2017, when ESPN Research started tracking them. It's 36 more than any other player.

His ability to shed tackles has paved the way for an NFL-best 5,704 yards after contact and has prompted a teammate to question whether Henry should be allowed to continue using his stiff-arm.

"It's more of a punch," Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said last season. "But if he's on my team, it's good. If it's against me, I want it to be illegal."

Henry's first stiff-arm of the year came in the season opener, when he used his left arm to deliver a quick jab to Cole Bishop that left the Buffalo Bills safety sprawling on the ground. Henry went untouched the rest of the way for a 30-yard touchdown.

But it's been a challenging season so far for Henry. He made a costly fumble in the fourth quarter of a 41-40 loss in Buffalo and was held to 23 yards rushing in Sunday's 41-17 win over the Browns, statistically his worst game in two seasons as a Raven.

Baltimore believes that when Henry gets back on track, it will create the usual predicament for defenses.

"Once you see Derrick in person, you can understand if he put those paws on you, there's going to be trouble," Ravens running backs coach Willie Taggart said. "When he showed it on film once, everybody else knows that can happen when they come up in there. So, I think sometimes there's some business decisions whether to tackle him or not."

RAVENS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR Todd Monken first met Henry in 2009, when Monken was the wide receivers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Henry was a freshman at nearby Yulee High School.

Someone told Monken that Henry was a running back.

"I'm like, 'What?," Monken recalled this summer. "The guy is like 14 years old. He looks like he's 28. [It was] a lot like when I first saw Adrian Peterson, when you see somebody that's just different."

Players and coaches say the reason Henry is so effective with his stiff-arms -- and why others are simply not built to do so -- is his combination of size and long arms.

Henry is listed at 252 pounds. The only other NFL running back who is currently listed at 250 pounds is C.J. Ham, who is a fullback for the Minnesota Vikings.

Henry's wingspan was measured at 80.75 inches at the NFL combine in 2016. It's the third-longest wingspan by a running back measured at the combine since 2003, when this data was first recorded.

"He's got really good timing on it, too," Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar said. "He does a really good job of redirecting a defender's momentum."

Kolar then paused and said, "And he's just really strong. Sometimes it's not that complicated."

Henry has the power to brush tacklers away. He also has the speed to run away from them to reach the end zone.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Henry has reached 20 miles per hour or faster 32 times since 2018, which is third only to wide receiver Tyreek Hill (75) and Saquon Barkley (36).

"You can see guys with that size, but they're not as fast," Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum said. "But you see guys with that speed, and they're not as big as him. He's kind of got a little bit of everything. He is a special player, and there's a reason why he is going to go down in history as one of the best backs to ever do it."

Ravens running back Justice Hill believes it's more than physical traits that allows Henry to excel at stiff-arms. When Hill asked Henry how he executes it, Henry replied, "Bro, I just give my all in it and put it all in there."

HENRY'S MOST FAMOUS stiff-arm came on Oct. 13, 2020, and it technically didn't count.

Henry, who was with the Tennessee Titans at the time, got to the left edge where he smacked Josh Norman in his right shoulder and sent the All-Pro cornerback flying through the air and a few feet in front of him. The play was negated by offsetting penalties, but it's long remembered by football fans. One YouTube video of the stiff-arm has 3.8 million views.

In an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show" three months after the play, Norman said, "For me, I don't look at it from the standpoint of what people say after the fact. We can laugh. It's a joke. I mean, we like to see the oohs and the aahs and the gliss and the glams of the sport. But when you're out there, the only thing you're thinking about is getting the opponent and the ball."

A month after that throw-down of Norman, Henry delivered another impressive stiff-arm. He was looking to turn the corner against the Indianapolis Colts and got his hand under the facemask of Grover Stewart. Henry pushed the 314-pound defensive tackle to the ground.

Teammates have messed with Stewart over the years about Henry's stiff-arm. Stewart has tried to explain how he was tearing off a block and was caught off-balance by Henry.

"My dad even said to me, 'Hey, somebody said he stiff-armed you,'" Stewart said last month. "I said, 'Hey, wait a minute. Go look at the film, man.'"

Minkah Fitzpatrick, a five-time Pro Bowl safety, shares a similar experience that he would like to forget. In last season's wild-card win over the Steelers, Henry took a direct snap and then put his right hand to the side of Fitzpatrick's helmet, which sent him falling backward.

"It's not fun being on the receiving end of that," Fitzpatrick said last month. "I was more mad at myself. I knew it was coming, but I hesitated and didn't believe what I saw on film. He's a guy that likes getting one-on-one with defensive backs and embarrassing them."

Teammates can sometimes get caught in the middle of a stiff-arm. Last December, Linderbaum was looking to block an Eagles defensive back about 10 yards downfield when he felt Henry's hand on his back. Linderbaum was then launched forward and off his feet.

"I've felt the brunt of it," Linderbaum said. "That's him telling me to move faster, so I got to get going."

RAVENS COACH JOHN Harbaugh was asked how he would combat one of Henry's stiff-arms.

"As an old defensive back, I just envision myself trying to knock that thing down and hanging on for dear life," Harbaugh said.

There have been other running backs known for their stiff-arms, from Earl Campbell to Marshawn Lynch. Henry has turned it into a science.

Henry has mastered different stiff-arms for different situations. He was surprised that others have noticed this.

"It just depends on the run and the angle," Henry said. "If I got time and I can set it up, then I'm going to really throw it with power. If I'm trying to break a quick tackle and get up field, then it's more of a short arm. If I got space on a guy, I just try to give him a little stiff-arm to break the tackle and keep going down the field."

Since Henry joined the Ravens in 2024, some of his teammates have used his renowned stiff-arm. Last October, quarterback Lamar Jackson stiff-armed Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard to buy time to throw a touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely. Then, in the wild-card win over the Steelers, Likely used the stiff-arm to slam cornerback Cameron Sutton to the ground.

Henry said he hasn't given out any advice for stiff-arms, adding, "I'm not the stiff-arm coordinator."

Henry, though, is the resident stiff-arm expert. From Pop Warner to the NFL, Henry has built a reputation of clearing his own way into the end zone and into league lore.

So, what is Henry's favorite stiff-arm?

"I always say I don't have a favorite one yet," Henry said before cracking a smile. "I'm still playing. It might be more down the line."

ESPN's Stephen Holder and Marcel Louis-Jacques contributed to this story.