Ex-Lobo a quick study with Ravens
Henry credits UNM staff for football smarts
Sudden change. Fighting through adversity. Technique under duress.
During his football career at the University of New Mexico, Daniel Henry heard those phrases uttered many times by Lobos head coach Bob Davie — and over the course of that career came to know exactly what they meant.
His experiences at UNM, he believes, stood him in good stead when he reported to the Baltimore Ravens’ rookie minicamp May 3.
The following morning, the former Lobos safety said, “We met as a unit with the defensive coordinator and (the defensive staff).
“Basically,” he said, “They walked in and said ‘We’re gonna try and break you guys.’”
Unbroken, Henry returned to Albuquerque a week ago to undergo another pressure situation: finals week at UNM. He’s a first-year graduate student in physical education.
Henry, an undrafted free-agent signee, was scheduled to return today to the Ravens’ training facility in Owings Mills, Md.
During his first visit, he said, the Ravens wasted no time in testing the rookies’ mettle.
“We installed probably 20 to 25 defenses in three days,” he said. “So, yeah, there was a lot of pressure.
“The pressure was definitely on right from the beginning, on how they expected us to be able to learn the defenses and play fast and run to the ball.”
It helped, he said, that he found some resemblances between the Ravens’ defensive system and UNM’s.
“The Ravens run a 3-4 (alignment), which is kind of similar even though we ran a 3-3-5,” he said. “The concepts are pretty similar.”
Coincidentally or not, Dean Pees, the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, worked with Davie under Lou Holtz for one year (1994) at Notre Dame. Davie was the defensive coordinator, Pees the secondary coach.
Henry credited Davie, UNM defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove and safeties coach Charles McMillian for a football education that helped him cope with the pressure applied by the Ravens’ defensive staff.
“They taught us not only how to play defense, but they taught us how to understand it,” he said. “There were a lot of guys (at the Ravens’ camp) from big schools, ACC schools and Big 12 and SEC schools, that couldn’t pick up the defense that fast because they’d relied on their athletic ability so long that they don’t understand football.
“So I definitely think our defensive coaches (at UNM) got me ready for that.”
Henry, a transfer from Iowa Western Community College, started for UNM at free safety the past two years. He finished his career with 137 tackles — second on the team during that span — 10 pass breakups, four fumbles forced and two fumbles recovered.
Listed by UNM at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, he was an All-Mountain West Conference honorable-mention selection as a senior.
MARTIN: Former Lobos cornerback Nias Martin, who was to have signed a free-agent contract with the Ravens, has not done so.
Martin, reached by the Journal on social media, declined comment.
Henry said he talked with his former teammate and said his absence at rookie camp was due to a personal matter. “I really don’t know too much about it,” he said.
In March 2016, the Journal reported that UNM police were investigating an accusation of rape made against Martin by a 19-year-old woman.
In February, KRQE-TV reported that police opted not to pursue the case further because the woman was not cooperating with their investigation.
GIANTS SIGN EDWARDS: Former UNM cornerback SaQwan Edwards (2012-14) has signed with the New York Giants after a successful rookie tryout.
Edwards was on the Oakland Raiders’ practice squad in 2015 but has never played in an NFL game.
He was charged with rape stemming from an incident in the spring of 2014, but the charges later were dropped.
THE GRADUATES: Twenty-six former and current Lobo football players were awarded their undergraduate degrees this weekend. Of the 26, 10 are scheduled to play this fall while in graduate school or pursuing a second major.