Shaquille O’Neal surprised the NFL world last month with his tweet about the Los Angeles Chargers’ young linebacker. The Lakers legend showed love to Daiyan Henley and campaigned to get him on the Pro Bowl roster. Henley was unfortunately snubbed from the final selection that was revealed a couple of days ago. However, he suspects the glowing recommendation that he got from Shaq was helped along by his father’s close relationship with the 4x champion.
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Speaking to The Insiders during an interview, Henley spoke about how O’Neal has always been close with his family. Daiyan’s father Eugene Henley, affectionately known as ‘Big U,’ is a music executive, and he’s known O’Neal since his early days in the rap scene. The two struck up a friendship, and so Shaq has seen Daiyan grow up. Speaking about how the Big Diesel has seen his football career blossom from the beginning, Henley said,
“Shaq has been around the family for quite some time, him and my dad are very close friends, so he’s always been watching over my football journey. And so I’m pretty sure my pops probably reached out or something and for him to be able to show love, that’s my unc and I can’t help but appreciate that man.”
Unfortunately for Hanley and O’Neal, the Chargers LB was overlooked despite a whopping 142 tackles made, placing him sixth in the league.
Henley leads the Pro Bowl snubs list
ESPN writers Ben Solak and Seth Walder listed Chargers stars Ladd McConkey and Daiyan Henley as two of the biggest Pro Bowl snubs this year. In Solak’s own words:
“Henley has seen more targets as the nearest defender than any linebacker according to NFL Next Gen Stats, but he has allowed negative receiving EPA in coverage despite that volume. That’s an impact player, and one integral to making the Chargers’ defense go. I would have liked to see him acknowledged.”
His argument for the sophomore stems from the fact that, at 6’1, Henley is relatively undersized for a linebacker, which makes his crucial role in Jim Harbaugh’s defensive schemes even more important.
Given that the Chargers are just making a turnaround from their fortunes last year, Henley’s snub may not bother him much. His talent is obvious to see, and barring any freak injuries, he will make a lot of Pro Bowls in the coming years.
