William Henderson played one of the more inglorious positions in football for 12 years in Green Bay. As a self-described “battering ram” fullback, Henderson was the lead blocker for five of the top 10 individual rushing yard seasons in Packers history. He also had a minimum of 21 receptions in 10 of 12 seasons.
Henderson made a Pro Bowl, was named All-Pro once and, on Saturday, he will be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame.
“The honor is as tremendous as you can imagine it being,” Henderson said. “Being linked, in any way, with the most elite has got to be special. Words really don’t describe it for me.
“It’s that final ticket saying everything that you did was worth it. And you did mean something to someone else. It’s just an unbelievable feeling.”
Henderson discussed his career and life after football this week with the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
You’ve been involved in a ton of charity work since retiring, how did that come about?
“Life after football, for me, has been a blast. I still have to deal with all the aches and pains of all the years of banging, but at the same time, I’m so blessed. I’m able to travel a little bit. I’ve been involved in a lot of programs supporting different nonprofits, different civil services. I work with the military often, I work with boys and girls clubs, different foundations, United Way. I’m trying to give back to the people that supported me.
“It is my thing. I was doing it back when I was a player. People knew I made myself available to work with different programs and to be available to the Wisconsin community to use the platform that I had to support different charities and different programs. I come from a very understanding and thoughtful community. It takes a community to raise a child. I never got away from that principle.”
Born in Richmond, Va., played college ball at North Carolina, how was the transition to Green Bay?
“It’s amazing for me because it was so unfamiliar of a territory. Walking down the streets of Green Bay when I first got there, you didn’t see a whole lot of people that looked like me. So, it was always a little bit of a shock for me, but I found ways to look at the culture and look at the people of Wisconsin and found a lot of similarities of what I was used to. A lot of similarities in family life. Everybody has a riff or ruffle in the family chemistry, but people find a way to make amends and break bread together. That’s what it seems the Wisconsin community is. I just fell in love with the fact that the people here are hardy people. They understand adverse conditions happen, bad weather or whatever. But they’re not going to let things break them. That ability to transition and adjust created a more enduring feeling for the Wisconsin community.”
What are your fondest memories?
“The fondest memories I will always have are the memories of the close quarters, either in the locker room or on the team plane. Team meals and times I got a chance to interact with my teammates. Whether it was sharing stories at our first meeting up at the beginning of the season or whether it be the transition through the season. We always found ways to get together and make the best of it. We were a bunch of clowns most of the time and we found a way to enjoy each other. I try to make my son understand the difference between friendships and acquaintances. I didn’t have a lot of acquaintances in the locker room. I made a lot of friends. When we get together, those guys that I consider friends, we don’t miss a beat.”
Your tenure was a unique era with the club …
“My time during with the Green Bay Packers was a special, blessed time. So many wonderful things happened to the organization. We won a ton of games. We were doing our mission with all the intent and purpose on being champions. Every year, every play. … I was able to see such a transition in the era of football. … When I first came to the Green Bay Packers, the most expensive cars, to put the time slot in a financial standpoint, was probably mine — which was a Toyota 4Runner. Now, people are driving Bentleys and whatnot. It’s a different era of the game. But the mission stayed the same. Everybody’s trying to win. These young men representing the Packers organization right now, we have to be proud of.
“I had a lot of questions about my feelings towards this year’s Super Bowl run. Some people felt I should feel as if I was dethroned as the last team to win the Super Bowl championship. I don’t feel that way at all. I felt it was a chance for us, as representatives of the Green Bay Packer organization, to enjoy and bask in the glory that we have helped elevate this team back to the level of stature that it was during the ’60s, during the Lombardi era. We have passed the torch to the next generation of players to go on and continue the mission.”
Part of your reputation revolves around your activity within the pass game, did you expect that from the beginning?
“I knew that was part of the West Coast system. I knew that was part of the evaluation period when they actually worked me out. There were several times during my tenure that I would get close to my incentives on my catching clause in my contract, then all the sudden they would flip-flop me and I wouldn’t get the chance to catch any more balls. But that’s the business side of football. But also the coaching staff didn’t want me to lose sight. As a young player, they were concerned that I would lose sight on what my true goal was and purpose was — that I needed to be a blocking back first and a receiving back second, if need be. A lot of times I would just be a decoy back.
“I had many roles as a player. The coaches realized they could capitalize on my hands after they saw I became a responsible veteran and could handle all the roles.”
How has that fullback position evolved over the years?
“The fullback position is hard to characterize. You had the Moose (Daryl) Johnston’s who were big thuggish guys that, early in their careers, were just responsible for just blasting holes and creating seams. Then later got a lot more carries than I did in my West Coast offense position.
“Then you also have your Mike Alstotts who carried the ball 40 times and had a smaller guy blocking for him.
“Then you had myself — a battering ram. That’s what my job was and that’s what I did to the best of my abilities. And I did it well, for years. Again, a lot of people didn’t understand why I was so passionate of doing it that way. For me, it was fun. … A job done well is a job you can be proud of.”
GBPressGazette wrote: