On a recent Wednesday afternoon, two days before his high school’s annual rivalry game against Belen Jesuit, Chris Merritt thought about the typical Miami football player. The one with all the scholarship offers. The one with the college recruiters he knows on a first-name basis. The one with the attitude. The one with the arrogance.
And then Merritt thought about CJ Henderson. The two don’t quite compare.
“These kids are told they’re the best things since peanut butter by every college in the country, and the ego grows,” said Merritt, who coached Henderson for four years at Columbus High School in Miami.
“He never developed an ego.”
Henderson is different, Merritt said. Reserved. Polite. Humble and respectful and quiet. But mostly quiet.
“For two years,” Merritt says, laughing, “I didn’t know he had a voice.”
That assessment is a common one of Henderson, now a 6-foot-1, 186-pound freshman cornerback at the University of Florida. His play on the field, where he was an All-American cornerback and a star running back in high school, didn’t mirror his persona off of it. It didn’t come close.
Henderson lived in the same neighborhood as Meritt, and would often drive home with him after football practice. Merritt’s son even helped Henderson get through high school chemistry. Still, Merritt never heard him say much.
At Florida, Henderson hasn’t changed. His teammate, UF safety Nick Washington, likes to describe him in one word.
“An outlier,” Washington said.
But that’s fine with Washington — just as long as Henderson keeps playing the way he has through Florida’s first three games.
Henderson is one of two first-year players who Florida coaches have given significant playing time at cornerback this season, and has done everything to back up their decision. In his first two games of college football, Henderson returned two interceptions for touchdowns, becoming the first freshman in program history to record pick sixes in back-to-back games and the first UF player to do so since at least 1965.
“He’s a quiet guy,” Washington said, “but his game speaks for itself.”
It’s fair to say that Florida is not used to quiet cornerbacks. Last year, when 2017 NFL Draft picks Jalen Tabor and Quincy Wilson were the starters, drama was usually only a tweet away. Tabor was suspended for the 2016 season opener for fighting with a teammate in practice. Soon after, Tabor openly questioned the punishment on Twitter. Later in the season, before Florida played Tennessee (and lost), Wilson called the Volunteers “ducks” and the Gators “trucks.” “Ducks can’t pull trucks,” Wilson claimed.
But Henderson won’t be making any such proclamations.
Instead, through three games this season, he has made the most noise on the field. Henderson is tied for first on the team with two interceptions and is tied for seventh with 11 total tackles. He has scored twice, accounting for 22.2 percent of Florida’s touchdowns this season.
And in high school, it was the same.
Henderson often used his rare speed to blow past defenders and make jumps on the ball in passing lanes. On one play, a running back sweep, Merritt still can’t believe how fast Henderson ran down the sideline. He was a blur.
“It drew laughter on the headsets,” Merritt said. “Along with some words that we can’t say in front of some kids.”
In a game against Miami Southridge High, Merritt remembers how Henderson routinely baited the opposing quarterback while on defense. Henderson would slack off his assigned receiver, making the quarterback think he had an easy completion, only to accelerate while the ball was in the air and nab an interception.
“There were times on the field where coaches would look at each other and just say, ‘wow,’” Merritt said. “He just played at a different speed.”
According to players and coaches at Florida, his speed has translated to the next level. Multiple players have said he is the fastest player on the team, including receiver Josh Hammond, who faces him weekly in practice.
To Merritt, seeing Henderson’s athleticism translate to the college level isn’t a surprise, especially after already watching him evade defenders twice to score touchdowns after a pair of turnovers this season.
He saw it at Columbus High. Now he’s seeing it on national TV.
“He’s a top one-percent type of athlete,” Merritt said. “I could’ve put him at guard. He still would’ve been the best athlete on the field.”
You can follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb, and contact him at icohen@alligator.org.
UF cornerback CJ Henderson stands during Florida's 33-17 loss against Michigan Sept. 2, 2017 at At&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
