Did Travis Henry almost transfer before the 98 season?

[Freak]

To say that I'm absolutely starved for Tennessee football right now would be an understatement. To keep myself sane this summer, I've decided to go back and watch some old videos and do a little online reading about various historic games of interest. Anyone here have a summer Vols routine they want to share (watching last season games, watching classic games, reading preseason magazines, etc)?

Anyway, after I posted my fondness for Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner yesterday in the Offseason Fun thread, I decided to do a bit of research on that game and ran across this old post from Football Study Hall, which states that Travis Henry almost transferred before the '98 season after losing his the starting job to Jamal Lewis.

Maybe I knew about it at the time, but at this point I don't remember it at all (which probably says more about my terrible memory than anything else). Pro Tip: The link in the quote no longer works.

Tennessee running back Travis Henry was really, really good. We remember the defense, we remember Peerless Price, and we remember the whole "they won without Peyton Manning" thing. But Henry was almost the most valuable player on that team. He almost transferred in Summer 1998 after losing the starting job to Jamal Lewis, but when Lewis went down with a knee injury, Henry exploded. He absolutely carried the Vols offense in this game.

Someone remind me, were these just vague rumors at the time or was there more to it?

 

[BACKDOC]

To say that I'm absolutely starved for Tennessee football right now would be an understatement. To keep myself sane this summer, I've decided to go back and watch some old videos and do a little online reading about various historic games of interest. Anyone here have a summer Vols routine they want to share (watching last season games, watching classic games, reading preseason magazines, etc)?

Anyway, after I posted my fondness for Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner yesterday in the Offseason Fun thread, I decided to do a bit of research on that game and ran across this old post from Football Study Hall, which states that Travis Henry almost transferred before the '98 season after losing his starting job to Jamal Lewis.

Maybe I knew about it at the time, but at this point, I don't remember it at all (which probably says more about my terrible memory than anything else). Pro Tip: The link in the quote no longer works.

I know what you mean, but if you all like bass fishing like I do check out Kristine Fischer on youtube. Her videos are awesome. Love me some "Cheese."

 

[imw8n4u]

I never heard anything about either of the Travis's considering transferring. The stud we lost from that amazing group of RB talent was Ontario Smith, but who could blame him for leaving.

 

[Freak]

I never heard anything about either of the Travis's considering transferring. The stud we lost from that amazing group of RB talent was Ontario Smith, but who could blame him for leaving.

Ah yes, the Whizzinator. lol. Good memory. I hadn't thought about Ontario in a while.

 

[LakeMaryFLVol]

To say that I'm absolutely starved for Tennessee football right now would be an understatement. To keep myself sane this summer, I've decided to go back and watch some old videos and do a little online reading about various historic games of interest. Anyone here have a summer Vols routine they want to share (watching last season games, watching classic games, reading preseason magazines, etc)?

Anyway, after I posted my fondness for Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner yesterday in the Offseason Fun thread, I decided to do a bit of research on that game and ran across this old post from Football Study Hall, which states that Travis Henry almost transferred before the '98 season after losing his starting job to Jamal Lewis.

Maybe I knew about it at the time, but at this point I don't remember it at all (which probably says more about my terrible memory than anything else). Pro Tip: The link in the quote no longer works.



Someone remind me, were these just vague rumors at the time or was there more to it?

I remember this. Had forgot about it till you brought it up. I think there was something to it. "Not enough snaps to showcase skills" was the phrase that I recall.

 

[GAVol]

To say that I'm absolutely starved for Tennessee football right now would be an understatement. To keep myself sane this summer, I've decided to go back and watch some old videos and do a little online reading about various historic games of interest. Anyone here have a summer Vols routine they want to share (watching last season games, watching classic games, reading preseason magazines, etc)?

Anyway, after I posted my fondness for Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner yesterday in the Offseason Fun thread, I decided to do a bit of research on that game and ran across this old post from Football Study Hall, which states that Travis Henry almost transferred before the '98 season after losing his starting job to Jamal Lewis.

Maybe I knew about it at the time, but at this point I don't remember it at all (which probably says more about my terrible memory than anything else). Pro Tip: The link in the quote no longer works.



Someone remind me, were these just vague rumors at the time or was there more to it?

First of all, he didn’t lose his starting job Before the 98 season. He never was the starter in the first place. He had 2 carries his freshman year.

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

To say that I'm absolutely starved for Tennessee football right now would be an understatement. To keep myself sane this summer, I've decided to go back and watch some old videos and do a little online reading about various historic games of interest. Anyone here have a summer Vols routine they want to share (watching last season games, watching classic games, reading preseason magazines, etc)?

Anyway, after I posted my fondness for Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner yesterday in the Offseason Fun thread, I decided to do a bit of research on that game and ran across this old post from Football Study Hall, which states that Travis Henry almost transferred before the '98 season after losing his starting job to Jamal Lewis.

Maybe I knew about it at the time, but at this point I don't remember it at all (which probably says more about my terrible memory than anything else). Pro Tip: The link in the quote no longer works.



Someone remind me, were these just vague rumors at the time or was there more to it?

Shawn Bryson, Travis Stevens, Travis Henry and Jamal Lewis. To me that was easily the best 4 RBs on a single college team!

 

[Weezer]

Shawn Bryson, Travis Stevens, Travis Henry and Jamal Lewis. To me that was easily the best 4 RBs on a single college team!

I remember the three headed monster of James "Little Man" Stewart, Aaron Hayden, and Charlie Garner as well.

 

[cncchris33]

To say that I'm absolutely starved for Tennessee football right now would be an understatement. To keep myself sane this summer, I've decided to go back and watch some old videos and do a little online reading about various historic games of interest. Anyone here have a summer Vols routine they want to share (watching last season games, watching classic games, reading preseason magazines, etc)?

Anyway, after I posted my fondness for Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner yesterday in the Offseason Fun thread, I decided to do a bit of research on that game and ran across this old post from Football Study Hall, which states that Travis Henry almost transferred before the '98 season after losing his starting job to Jamal Lewis.

Maybe I knew about it at the time, but at this point I don't remember it at all (which probably says more about my terrible memory than anything else). Pro Tip: The link in the quote no longer works.



Someone remind me, were these just vague rumors at the time or was there more to it?

There was likely something to it, but I don't ever remember Henry being the starter prior to Lewis's injury at Auburn. Lewis took the starting job from Mark Levine in 97 against Ole Miss, I believe, which was probably 3 games too late, and ran with it, literally.

He entered 98 as the unquestioned starter and was again a stud prior to his injury. Henry and Stephens both shared the load for a bit until Henry became the leader of that timeshare.

In 99, he and Lewis split carries and yardage pretty evenly, and Stephens redshirted. Lewis went pro and was the #5 overall pick. Henry stayed for his SR year.

In 2000, Henry was the bellcow and had his best statistical season. Henry was a 2nd rounder. Stephens was the backup.

In 2001, Stephens was the starter and his beat statistical season, backed up by the freshmen trio of Ced Houston, Jabari Davis, and Derrick Tinsley. Stephens was a 4th rd pick in 2002.

 

[Freak]

First of all, he didn’t lose his starting job Before the 98 season. He never was the starter in the first place. He had 2 carries his freshman year.

The actual quote from the article was 'losing the starting job.' I wrote his and confused the issue. Was Lewis named the starter after the spring maybe?

 

[Freak]

There was likely something to it, but I don't ever remember Henry being the starter prior to Lewis's injury at Auburn. Lewis took the starting job from Mark Levine in 97 against Ole Miss, I believe, which was probably 3 games too late, and ran with it, literally.

He entered 98 as the unquestioned starter and was again a stud prior to his injury. Henry and Stephens both shared the load for a bit until Henry became the leader of that timeshare.

In 99, he and Lewis split carries and yardage pretty evenly, and Stephens redshirted. Lewis went pro and was the #5 overall pick. Henry stayed for his SR year.

In 2000, Henry was the bellcow and had his best statistical season. Henry was a 2nd rounder. Stephens was the backup.

In 2001, Stephens was the starter and his beat statistical season, backed up by the freshmen trio of Ced Houston, Jabari Davis, and Derrick Tinsley. Stephens was a 4th rd pick in 2002.

Inaccurate choice of words by me. See my post above this one.

Mark Levine, though. Those were some great discussions at the time. lol.

 

[dobre_shunka]

I never heard anything about either of the Travis's considering transferring. The stud we lost from that amazing group of RB talent was Ontario Smith, but who could blame him for leaving.

His leaving wasn't his choice but the result of multiple failed drug tests causing his dismissal from the team.

Always struck me as peculiar he had issues with failing drug tests at Tennessee and in the NFL but never at the stop in between the two, Oregon.

 

[cncchris33]

Inaccurate choice of words by me. See my post above this one.

Mark Levine, though. Those were some great discussions at the time. lol.

Haha...yep. still don't know what Phil was thinking, or what he saw in practice to give Levine 3 shots at the starting job. Lewis finished with 1300+ yds rushing on only 9 starts that season.

 

[GAVol]

The actual quote from the article was 'losing the starting job.' I wrote his and confused the issue. Was Lewis named the starter after the spring maybe?

I don’t remember there ever being any question going into 98 about who was going to get most of the carries.

 

[Hacksaw]

His leaving wasn't his choice but the result of multiple failed drug tests causing his dismissal from the team.

Always struck me as peculiar he had issues with failing drug tests at Tennessee and in the NFL but never at the stop in between the two, Oregon.

The only reasonable explanation is that he didn't smoke weed in Oregon. Right? He was a hopeless addict in Knoxville and in the NFL, but not while he was in Oregon, where they smoke weed at bus stops.

 

[dobre_shunka]

Haha...yep. still don't know what Phil was thinking, or what he saw in practice to give Levine 3 shots at the starting job. Lewis finished with 1300+ yds rushing on only 9 starts that season.

The issue was Lewis was a freshman and Levine wasn't. Fulmer always gave the benefit of the doubt to upperclassmen.

 

[GAVol]

The issue was Lewis was a freshman and Levine wasn't. Fulmer always gave the benefit of the doubt to upperclassmen.

And the coaches had to trust Lewis to know protections and keep Peyton Manning upright before they’d put him on the field.

 

[Freak]

I don’t remember there ever being any question going into 98 about who was going to get most of the carries.

I think we all knew Lewis was one of those special players after watching him as a freshman. He had an incredible combination of speed and power. I remember I was sold on him after watching the Georgia game that year, which would have been his second start, I believe. He rushed for over 200 yards.

You're right about the expectations heading into 98. But Henry, after sitting on the bench watching Lewis run wild in 97, must have decided to go through spring practice before making a decision on whether or not to transfer in the summer, assuming the rumors were true.

 

[GAVol]

I think we all knew Lewis was one of those special players after watching him as a freshman. He had an incredible combination of speed and power. I remember I was sold on him after watching the Georgia game that year, which would have been his second start, I believe. He rushed for over 200 yards.

You're right about the expectations heading into 98. But Henry, after sitting on the bench watching Lewis run wild in 97, must have decided to go through spring practice before making a decision on whether or not to transfer in the summer, assuming the rumors were true.

Plus, it’s impossible for people to understand now, but we just didn’t hear about stuff like that back then. Internet access was still a fairly new thing and we were using dial up on our second phone line.

 

[Weezer]

Haha...yep. still don't know what Phil was thinking, or what he saw in practice to give Levine 3 shots at the starting job. Lewis finished with 1300+ yds rushing on only 9 starts that season.

IIRC, wasn't the reasoning that Jamal didn't understand his blocking assignments?

 

[Weezer]

I still remember when Travis Henry leaped over a pile to score a TD, but came down on his head. He was laying there on the field and his momma ran out from the stands, onto the field.

 

[05_never_again]

Charlie Garner
Jay Graham
Jamal Lewis
Travis Henry
Travis Stephens

That was quite a group of guys during that era, wasn't it? And I'm not even including all of them.

 

[Remy]

His leaving wasn't his choice but the result of multiple failed drug tests causing his dismissal from the team.

Always struck me as peculiar he had issues with failing drug tests at Tennessee and in the NFL but never at the stop in between the two, Oregon.

Wasn't that guy actually Onterrio Smith that went to Oregon after us?

 

[flatiron]

Here’s a link to the article in the quote from Freak’s post

CNN/SI - '98-'99 College Bowls - Fiesta Bowl - Travis Henry made most of opportunity - Friday January 01, 1999 02:48 PM

 

[Freak]

Here’s a link to the article in the quote from Freak’s post

CNN/SI - '98-'99 College Bowls - Fiesta Bowl - Travis Henry made most of opportunity - Friday January 01, 1999 02:48 PM

Great find. Thanks.