NASHVILLE – Back in high school, Titans running back Derrick Henry once rushed for 502 yards in a single game, setting a record many probably thought would never be broken.
This past Friday night, however, Baker High School (Fla.) junior running back Kayleb Wagner broke Henry's single-game rushing record by totaling 535 yards and six touchdowns.
In the process, he earned props from Henry.
"I think it is incredible," Henry said on Thursday. "I thought it was really cool. I got to talk to him a little bit on Instagram and hopefully he breaks some more. That was really cool, definitely an inspiration to me and I am sure he is an inspiration to his team and everybody over there in that community. It was definitely cool to see and hopefully I can do something for him these upcoming weeks. I love to see it."
Making Wagner's record-breaking performance even more impressive is the fact he was born without a left hand.
On Thursday, Henry said he gave Wagner words of encouragement.
"I just told him to keep going, keep working hard, keep God first, break some more records," Henry said. "I have been trying to talk to him to see what I can do for him. It is a cool situation. He was outrunning guys, guys weren't touching him, it was really cool. Records are meant to be broken and I hope he breaks some more."
Henry, who played at Yulee High just outside of Jacksonville, broke the 51-year-old national high school rushing record with 12,124 yards after compiling 4,261 rushing yards as a senior.
Henry a Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama who has led the NFL in rushing the past two seasons, said he wasn't shocked his single-game record was broken.
"Florida boys are different," Henry said with a smile, "so I knew somebody would come around and break it eventually."
