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Former A-10 pilot, Cowboy speaks at Pentagon
Veteran's Day at the Pro
Football Hall of Fame (PDF)
The Gazette Online Names Chad Hennings #11 of Top 40 Greatest Athletes
UT's Lewis, ex-Cowboy Hennings
cross paths
04:02 AM CDT on Friday, October 5, 2007
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas
Morning News
chipbrown@dallasnews.com
When Chad and Tammy Hennings welcome Jerry
and Debby Lewis into their Dallas home this week to celebrate the
Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma, the circle will be
complete.
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Chad
Hennings – Giving Back to Country and Community
Duty...honor...country...commitment...service – all
these military terms play a
significant role in explaining
Air Force veteran and All-America
football defenseman Chad Hennings’ many
accomplishments.
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AIR FORCE ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL HALL OF FAME CLASS
The Air Force Academy is proud to announce the inaugural class for induction
into the Air Force Academy Athletic Hall of Fame. The six inductees,
Alonzo Babers, Bob Beckel, John Clune, Chad Hennings, Michelle Johnson
and Brock Strom will be inducted on Friday, Oct. 19, at the Broadmoor
Hotel.
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Pro hopes slim for Falcons
Every few days, a conspicuous visitor will drop by Air Force football
practice, carrying a clipboard and wearing a shirt embroidered with
the logo of an NFL team, looking for the next Chad Hennings.
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Well Done
NEW YORK - Three days after Air Force completed a third consecutive losing
football season, there was a reminder of how high the Falcons have
flown.
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Falcons' Hennings enshrined
Colorado's Anderson also honored
By Tom Coyne | The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 07/21/2007 11:11:57 PM MDT
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Hennings part of HOF weekend activities
20 Legends set for two-days of events at college football's ultimate shrine.
July
19, 2007
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Hennings takes part in Enrichment Parade at College
Football Hall of Fame Ceremony
The parade is part of the enshrinement festival
for the College Football Hall of Fame.
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Hennings elected to College Football Hall of Fame
5/16/2006 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) -- Former Air Force great
Chad Hennings received one of the highest honors a college football
player can earn May 16. He was elected into the College Football
Hall of Fame.
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Air Force's Hennings among
20 hall inductees
By Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY
Chad Hennings says his journey to the College Football
Hall of Fame was anything but a solo flight.
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Chad Hennings Joins Commerce
Energy Team
Football Star & Motivational Speaker
to Serve as Spokesperson.
Read More >>
Dallas Morning News
- Rick Gosselin
Final Thought
Chad Hennings is among the players being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at a banquet in New York City tonight.
The Cowboys selected the Outland Trophy-winning Hennings in the 11th round of the 1988 draft even though he faced a five-year military commitment upon his graduation from the Air Force Academy. It was a draft strategy that worked so well for the Cowboys in the 1960s with Navy's Roger Staubach -- and Tex Schramm and Gil Brandt deemed Hennings worthy of the same gamble.
I was covering the Cowboys in the spring of 1992, and the buzz on the eve of the draft was that Hennings was going to be released from his Air Force commitment early. He worked out at Valley Ranch the day before the draft and I remember then defensive line coach Butch Davis saying afterward, "We just got ourselves another No. 1 draft pick."
Hennings would play nine seasons with Dallas and be a part of a terrific defensive line rotation that helped produce three Super Bowls. He never went to a Pro Bowl, but Hennings was vital to a fabric of character woven by the Cowboys in their locker room.
I've long been a believer that you win in the NFL with good character -- players you could trust when the going got tough. Natural leaders who accepted and demanded accountability. The Dallas locker room was filled with those tough-minded, no-nonsense individuals back then in Hennings, Russell Maryland, Ken Norton, Thomas Everett, Jim Jeffcoat, Bill Bates, Darren Woodson, Daryl Johnston, Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman.
The Cowboys as a franchise began breaking down in the late 1990s as those players started leaving the team through free agency and retirement. The natural leaders left and the Cowboys did not bring in the same caliber of players to replace them. It showed up on the field. To this day the Cowboys have not won a playoff game since 1996.
Hennings was a class act both on and off the field and richly deserving of this honor from the National Football Foundation. Everett and Smith, by the way, will join him in the College Football Hall of Fame in the festivities tonight. My congratulations to all three.
E-mail: rgosselin@dallasnews.com
Today's Military
In February 2004, Chad Hennings embarked on a cross-country tour to talk about his experiences in the military and his life since.
Coach's trip to Air Force gave Hennings' dreams wings
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