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sive player following through on a pass, mangling his index finger. He probably shouldn't have tried to play the next week against Illinois. "I knew from the beginning that if there was any way he could play, he would," father Wayne Henry said. "I think that kind of showed a little bit about him, too, even as a redshirt freshman, doing everything he could to try to play through that injury and do things he could to help the team or be out there with his teammates." Henry did start against the Illini but didn't last, the pain was too significant, and he missed the next game. He returned, though, and ultimately became the first quarterback in school history to lead the team in passing and rushing in a season. Though the team success wasn't there — it lost its last six games — at least Henry was able to get game experience. That helped him enter the 2011 season with some confidence, and he was eager to lead the team as the full-time starter while Marve was slow to recover from knee surgery. Then, less than two weeks before the opener, Henry tore the ACL in his right knee in practice. He allowed himself to deeply feel the disappointment but only briefly. There was work to be done, starting with convincing others he was going to be OK. "I'll be honest with you, I was pretty devastated by it or just frustrated maybe that it had happened," Wayne Henry said. "But he got me through it because he was positive and he just said, 'I'm going to come back from this and I'm going to be prepared for spring practice.' That was the goal going into it. "I remember the morning after surgery, they got him down in rehab and he did a couple of things that morning that they had never seen anybody do to that extent. With some of the people that go through there and have surgery that made me think, 'Yeah, he's going to work hard and get back through this and hopefully everything will heal right and we'll be OK and get another opportunity.' " Henry did work hard to return to the field and felt strong and well enough to contribute in 2012. His coaches thought otherwise, holding him back to be "cautious." By then, Caleb TerBush was the starter and went the distance. Henry was relegated to being 12 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 1 a sometimes-quarterback, sometimes-receiver, sometimes-running back option. It was not an easy season. "It was frustrating at times, just the uncertainty part of it, not knowing what I was going to be doing week to week and what plays I needed to really be familiar with," Henry said. "But any time I got on the field was fun just because if you love playing football, no matter what position you're at, you just have a good time when you're out there. But obviously I came here to play quarterback and that's what I want to do." Now, finally, Henry will. And there are a lot of people, uh, "excited" about that. 'Special' teammate Certainly Austin Appleby and Robert Marve could get into specifics. They could talk about a time when Henry's advice was especially poignant. Or when Henry's urging prompted an extra workout or an off-the-books throwing session. Or when he was seen straining and sweating in rehab, a determination to come back better than before, despite an injury to a body part that zapped him of one of his biggest assets. But there are too many such instances to relay. Too many times Henry was exactly who they needed him to be, as a teammate, as a friend. "He has been the person he was the first time I met him, and he's never changed. He's the same person every day and he lives by his faith and that never wavers," Appleby said. "I have looked up to him ever since I met him. Whenever I have a question regarding faith, life, I can turn to Rob Henry, and that's what makes him so special because of what kind of teammate he is and what kind of person he is. He just gets it. "He's a guy you know is going to be there. He's going to do what he's supposed to do. You can just count on Rob. That's what you want out of your senior leader. It's a blessing to have him on our team." When Marve was at Purdue, he rehabbed alongside Henry, and if he didn't already know it, spending that time with his friend only solidified his opinion. Of Henry as a relentless worker. f