EVERETT — Archbishop Murphy senior kicker Ryan Henderson’s booming leg and pinpoint accuracy wowed spectators this fall during the Wildcats’ run to the Class 2A football state title.
It also impressed a big-time college program just down the road.
Henderson has received a preferred walk-on offer from the University of Washington football program, meaning that he would be guaranteed one of the team’s 105 available roster spots for next season’s fall camp.
Preferred walk-ons aren’t on scholarship, but have the opportunity to earn scholarships later on as they become available. Many college kickers begin as walk-ons.
“It’s a chance to be on the team,” Henderson said. “You get to go to camp, you get to work out almost like a tryout and you get the chance to compete and earn a scholarship.”
Henderson said that he’s also been in contact with the Washington State University football program.
“I want to be patient and wait for things to play out,” Henderson said. “I think I’m going to visit some schools (and) see what it’s like. I haven’t really gotten the chance to see UW — I want to do that before I make any decisions.”
Henderson is coming off a stellar senior season in which he converted all 59 extra-point attempts and made 12 of 14 field goals — including field goals of 56, 54 and 50 yards. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound kicker also showcased his leg strength by booting 47 of 78 kickoffs (60.3 percent) into the end zone for touchbacks.
“Ryan definitely was a benefit to the defense,” Murphy head coach Jerry Jensen said. “Every time going out there, you knew that (there was a good chance) he was going to kick the ball into the end zone. Having the opponents’ offense start out on the 20-yard line is a huge weapon. … It’s amazing, when he really gets ahold of the ball, how far it goes.”
Henderson’s season-long 56-yard field goal would’ve been impressive at any level of football.
There have been only five made field goals in the NFL this season of more than 56 yards, with the longest being a 60-yarder by Arizona kicker Chandler Catanzaro. The NFL record is 64 yards.
Meanwhile, the University of Washington school record is 56 yards. UW senior kicker Cameron Van Winkle, a three-year starter, has a career long of 51 yards. The fourth-ranked Huskies are preparing to face top-ranked Alabama in the Peach Bowl in a College Football Playoff semifinal on Dec. 31.
UW’s interest in Henderson began after Jensen, a former All-Pac-10 linebacker with the Huskies, called the program in the week leading up to his team’s Dec. 3 state title game appearance.
“I left a message for the coaches that they needed to take a look at Ryan,” Jensen said. “So they did a little bit of homework and … (UW assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Bob Gregory) ended up coming to the state title game.
“He came away impressed with the way the ball jumps off Ryan’s leg. And so (Gregory) stopped by the school that next week, had a conversation with him and asked him to come in and try to earn a spot.”
Henderson, a soccer player since age 4 and member of the two-time defending state champion Murphy soccer team, didn’t begin playing football until his sophomore year of high school, when Jensen asked Wildcats soccer coach Mike Bartley if any of his players would be interested in trying out for the football team’s open kicker spot. Jensen brought a bag of footballs to soccer practice one day and said that Henderson “took to it.”
Henderson said that kicking footballs came naturally to him, thanks to his background as a goalkeeper. He had long played the position in club soccer and was the Wildcats’ goalkeeper as a freshman and sophomore before moving to defender last season.
“(Goalkeeping) enabled me to really work on my placekicking, more than just shooting the ball or whatever,” he said. “Goal kicks, for example, (are) a dead ball and you’re trying to loft it in the air — you’re not trying to curve it or anything. And I think that, in large part, led to success in kicking.”
Henderson has since given up club soccer to focus on football and high school soccer.
“I played (soccer) really competitively and thought I was going to try to go to college that route, but I saw more opportunity in football,” Henderson said. “And you can’t play (club) soccer and high school soccer at the same time, and I really enjoyed high school soccer. So I decided high school soccer and high school football would be better for me.”
It wasn’t an easy choice, given his family’s rich soccer background.
Henderson’s father, Pat, captained San Diego State University to a national championship match appearance and played professionally. Two of Henderson’s uncles were All-Americans at UCLA and helped the Bruins win a national title before turning pro. One of the uncles, Chris, played 11 seasons in Major League Soccer, appeared in 79 matches for the United States national team and was on the roster for the 1990 World Cup. Henderson’s brother, Brady, currently is a member of the Gonzaga University soccer team.
“It was a little bit hard to make the decision to give up competitive (club) soccer and move to football, considering my whole family is so soccer-oriented,” Henderson said. But he added that joining the Murphy football team was “one of the best decisions I’ve made.”
Thanks to a strong work ethic, Henderson has added considerable leg strength and distance to his kicks since taking up football as a sophomore. And the results were certainly evident this fall.
“Ryan worked really hard to get to that point, practicing endless hours by himself kicking the ball. … He spends a lot of time in the weight room and works at it,” Jensen said. “So it’s definitely a product of him putting in the work to be able to kick the ball that far.”
Yet even with Henderson’s current talent level, Jensen believes there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
“He’s going to continue to grow and get some more leg strength, so that’s not going to hurt,” Jensen said. “But I think (he’ll really benefit from) getting the specific coaching at a college level — guys that he’ll work with on a daily basis and that (being) all they’re working on. He’s got a ton of room that he’s going to end up improving in.”
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