Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry had arguably the best rushing touchdown in NFL history during the second quarter of Thursday's 30-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Henry went 99-yards, tying Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame running back Tony Dorsett for the longest run in NFL history, breaking several tackles and handing out multiple stiff arms in the process.
"I'm keeping this ball," Henry said when he was told that Dorsett no longer has the game ball from his record run. "I got to spend a lot of time with [Tony Dorsett] when I was at the Heisman. He's a legend. It's cool to be in that company with Tony Dorsett."
Dorsett congratulated Henry on tying his record on Thursday night via Twitter.
"Congrats to my @HeismanTrophy brother @KingHenry_2 on tying the 99 yard record tonight," he wrote. "That stiff arm! Rumble, young man, rumble!"
Congrats to my @HeismanTrophy brother @KingHenry_2 on tying the 99 yard record tonight. That stiff arm! Rumble, young man, rumble!
— Tony Dorsett (@Tony_Dorsett) December 7, 2018
Henry recorded 81 total yards after contact during the run, which included stiff-arming Jaguars linebacker Leon Jacobs and cornerback A.J. Bouye to the ground en route to the end zone. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, eight of the 11 Jacksonville players on the field were within 1.5 yards of the former Heisman Trophy winner during his touchdown run.
But the highlight almost never happened as the original call was supposed to be a quarterback sneak by Marcus Mariota. However, Mariota revealed that the call had a built-in option for the quarterback to sneak or handoff the ball on an outside run.
Fortunately, he made the right decision.
"It was incredible. There is nothing like it," Mariota said. "It looked like he got bottled up, and then he found his way out of it. Once that guy gets into the open field, he's so hard to bring down. It's a treat to watch."
Henry added, "It's so crazy because when we were in the huddle, they were like, 'You got to break it 99 yards.' My main focus was to get positive yards. I just saw it and I hit it. My stiff-arm was working. It started up front with those guys."
Henry finished Thursday's game with a franchise-record 238 yards and four touchdowns in a breakout performance. The Titans' previous single-game rushing record was set by Chris Johnson, who recorded 228 yards on Nov. 1, 2009, also against the Jaguars.
Henry's longest run of the season was only 16 yards prior to Thursday's game. He managed to record three touchdowns of at least 16 yards during the win over Jacksonville.
The running back also had a 54-yard touchdown run during his third trip to the end zone.
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