Thomas Henderson might have one of the craziest stories in the NFL, going from playing a Super Bowl high on cocaine to being jailed, and eventually turning his life around and raising $300,000 for his community. The former Cowboys LB was a part of the team that won Super Bowl 12 in 1978. Henderson had an up-and-down career, filled with the highs of the Super Bowl win and a Pro Bowl berth, but aside from that, there wasn’t much to write home about his career.
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Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson’s career somehow started rather unspectacularly. He was drafted 18th overall by the Cowboys in the 1985 draft, but he was mainly featured on special teams. In his third year, Henderson got to show his talents on the defensive side of the ball. In the 1977-78 season, Henderson started all 14 games, and he was a major leader for the Cowboys’ defense, delivering massive hits and causing turnovers. That year Dallas would win the Super Bowl 27-10 against the Denver Broncos.
Thomas Henderson Developed an Addictive Lifestyle to be More Hollywood
Henderson wanted to rewrite the way his career would be remembered. He realized that the offensive players, namely the quarterbacks, received most of the media attention, and he wanted to turn that around.
So, developed his “Hollywood” lifestyle. “You can look at people like Deion Sanders now and others who understand that,” he said as per Sportscasting. “They could have called me Tom Henderson forever, but Hollywood Henderson is somebody you might want to talk to. So I started branding myself.”
Henderson started partying with big names including Richard Pryor and Marvin Gaye, and he quickly developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Despite this, Henderson would go on to have a Pro Bowl year in the 1978-79 season.
That year in 1979, Dallas returned to the Super Bowl, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-31. During that game, Henderson was high on cocaine. Henderson used to use liquified cocaine, from his inhaler, before games, and he carried the same to the big game.
“When I put cocaine mixed with water in a Vicks inhaler, it was to medicate my nose because it would give me a headache from hell,” Henderson explained as per Sportscasting. “So I started squeezing liquefied cocaine in my nose to numb it.”
Henderson’s addiction soon made his career very hard to continue. His production decreased, and he was soon out of the league. In 1983 he was arrested for assault, and that’s when it seemed like his life had spiraled out of control.
Henderson Found a Way to Give Back
Thomas Henderson had to make changes to his life, and he did just that. Years after his football career was over, Henderson started to dedicate his time to helping his local community, giving back to Austin, Texas, his hometown.
In 1990, Henderson helped restore the football field he used to play on, cleaned the area, and a lot more. He raised $300,000 in the process.
Further, in 2000, Henderson won the Texas lottery which fetched him $28 million which he used part of to create a charity. In one of the more unlikely turns of events, Henderson won another lottery in 2010, winning $50,000. Henderson completely turned his life around. He’s been drug and alcohol-free, is a community leader, and has worked hard to gain back what he lost.
