Hunter Henry

Early life

Henry was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on December 7, 1994, the oldest of four children born to Mark and Jenny Henry. Mark was a former offensive lineman for the Arkansas Razorbacks from 1987–1991 who lettered all four years for the Razorbacks and later became a pastor. In 2000, his family moved to the Atlanta area for his father's job. Henry moved back to Little Rock for his freshman year of high school, where he attended Pulaski Academy for four years. As a freshman, Henry spent time playing offensive tackle, wide receiver, and defensive end for the football team. He did not play tight end during his high school career, because Pulaski Academy's Spread Offense scheme did not feature that position. Henry started his sophomore, junior, and senior years, winning a state championship with the Bruins in 2011.

Henry was named to the Parade All-America team for the 2012–13 school year and was one of the top recruits in the nation.

College career

In 2015, Henry was involved in one of the most memorable plays in Arkansas football history. During a fourth-and-25 play in overtime against Ole Miss in the rivalry game, Henry caught a pass from quarterback Brandon Allen and upon seeing that he was going to be tackled short of the first down marker, Henry blindly flung the ball backwards as a lateral to running back Alex Collins. Collins picked it up on the bounce and ran it for a 31-yard gain to gain a first down. This set up an eventual touchdown and successful two-point conversion to win the game. The uniqueness of the play led to widespread media coverage and replays. He was the John Mackey Award winner for best tight end in the nation and also was a Consensus All-American in the 2015–2016 season. Henry helped Arkansas win back-to-back bowl games in consecutive years for the first time in program history, beating former Southwest Conference rival the Texas Longhorns in the 2014 Texas Bowl, and winning the 2016 Liberty Bowl over the Kansas State Wildcats.

On January 4, 2016, Henry declared he would be entering the 2016 NFL draft.

Personal life

Henry has three siblings; Hayden, Hudson and Hope. Hayden was a linebacker at Arkansas from 2017–2022. Hudson was a tight end for the Razorbacks from 2019–2022.

Henry married his college sweetheart Parker Schmidly on June 30, 2018. The couple have one son and one daughter.

Henry is a Christian. He has said, "I would say my faith is the most important thing to me. My dad is a pastor in Little Rock. I’ve grown up in a Christian background my whole life. My faith is the most important thing to me; that’s the one message that I want to convey to everybody."

Henry is a supporter of Compassion International and International Justice Mission.