Family Ties
December 14, 2004 02:18 PM | General
December 14, 2004
 Mike |
 Matt |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For once Kathy Henshaw knows which direction she’s headed to watch her two sons play football.
Her two sons are Mike and Matt Henshaw and they will be playing in the 2005 Toyota Gator Bowl on Saturday Jan. 1. And it just so happens that one (Mike) will be playing for West Virginia while the other (Matt) will be playing for Florida State.
For a mother who devotes her autumns driving from Brentwood, Tenn., to Morgantown, W.Va., and to Tallahassee, Fla., to watch her two son's games, the Gator Bowl provides her the very unique opportunity of seeing both at the same time even if her allegiances will be split right down middle.
“We’re just so excited and thrilled that they’re going to be playing in the same bowl. They’re so excited that they’re going to be there together that I don’t think too many of the negatives have set in yet,” she said.
Of course there are the negatives, or at least the complications. Kathy is a graduate of West Virginia University where she met her husband George “Duke” Henshaw, one of the key defensive players on the school’s 1969 Peach Bowl team. Three of her four brothers and sisters wound up going to WVU and marrying West Virginia graduates.
On the flip side, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden was responsible for recruiting her husband to West Virginia. Then Bowden offered him his first coaching job in 1970 at WVU and later took him to Florida State after the ’75 season. George spent seven years at Florida State from 1976-82 including the last four seasons coordinating Bowden’s offense. Today he is assistant head coach for the Tennessee Titans.
“We just loved Coach Bowden and always have,” Kathy said. “We’ve always remained so close to Coach Bowden, Ann, and their whole family.”
Much later when it came time for both sons to pick colleges, one decided to walk-on at West Virginia and follow his father’s footsteps while the other chose to play for the man who help mold his dad’s football mind.
“My dad played here,” Mike explained of his reason for coming to WVU. “I’ve had a lot of cousins and relatives here. That’s where my parents met. I always knew that they had a great football program and I always had my mind set that that’s where I wanted to go.”
Mike says Matt was also being recruited by former West Virginia coach Don Nehlen, though he says his heart was always set on going to Florida State.
“I think he had the opportunity to come here under Coach Nehlen and then the new coaching staff came in,” Mike said. “I don’t know what happened but my brother always said if he got the chance to go to Florida State that that would be his number one place. If not, then he was probably going to go to Clemson.”
Except for playing football and lacrosse, the two Henshaws are complete opposites. Mike is the more intense and aggressive of the two; Matt the more laid-back one. Stick the two beside each other and it is nearly impossible to tell they are brothers. Matt is roughly six inches taller.
“Matthew is built like my brothers and my side of the family,” said Kathy. “My one brother Peter played at West Virginia and my other brother played at Michigan State and played a little pro ball. They’re both 6-4 and 6-5 and built very similar to Matthew.
“Michael is just a combination but he gets his toughness from his dad.”
Despite giving up about 50 pounds to his younger brother there is no mistaking the fact that Mike is still Matt’s big brother.
“Even though Michael has always been about a head shorter than his brother he’s always been the big brother and probably always will,” Kathy said.
“I didn’t want him to mess up,” Mike says of his sometimes tough-love approach. “When he did made mistakes I kind of got on him and encouraged him to do better.”
They were always teammates as they grew up, helping each other along the way. Mike remembers playing lacrosse with Matt and usually feeding him the ball for goals. The two also used to work out at the Titans complex in the summertime, occasionally catching passes from their dad. They were competitive in nature but rarely ever toward one another.
That changes now that both are playing against each other in the Gator Bowl. Mike is a backup strong safety behind starter Mike Lorello while Matt is a backup tight end. Conceivably if both are in the game at the same time, Mike’s responsibility would be to guard Matt if he went out for a pass.
Kathy, being a football wife, is well aware of that possibility.
“It’s so funny. Matt was saying, ‘Mom I know what Michael would do. He would get me to laugh and would be doing all this crazy stuff and then he’d hit me right in the mouth.’ I said, ‘Absolutely! If you think your big brother is going to let up on you no way!’” she laughed.
Mike may take a shot at his little brother but he says he will keep it within the rules.
“People are like, ‘Are you going to kill your brother if you get the chance?’ I don’t see why they would say that because I would go hard but I wouldn’t try to go after him,” Mike said.
Mike admits the most uncomfortable part will probably come when the two are home together right before Christmas.
“It will be sort of weird on some aspects but I’m just going to go home and relax,” he said. “I get to go home on the 22nd and get some Christmas shopping done. My brother usually plays PlayStation all of the time and there probably won’t be that much talking about the game until we get down there.”
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| Mike Henshaw will be facing his younger brother in his last collegiate game at the Gator Bowl.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
It is not known how many times brothers have played against each other in New Year’s Day bowl games because the NCAA doesn’t keep those types of records. But NCAA Director of Statistics Jim Wright says it would be a “very rare occurrence.”
Even ABC announcer Al Michaels brought the subject up during his pre-game meeting with George before Tennessee’s Monday night game against Kansas City.
“Al Michaels was talking to him too and I guess they were aware of the fact that George has two sons playing against one another on New Year’s Day,” said Kathy.
Even though Tennessee plays Detroit on Jan. 2, Titans coach Jeff Fisher was adamant that George go to Jacksonville to see both his sons play. He will fly down to Jacksonville on Friday and then fly back to Tennessee right after the game.
“Jeff Fisher is just great,” Kathy said. “His oldest son is a senior and has been playing football and he’s going to play some college ball so he told George you just cannot miss this. How many times does a dad have two boys play in a major bowl on New Year’s Day against one another? George is going to fly over on the afternoon of the 31st and get to see the boys play and catch an 8 o’clock plane back here. We’ll take him to the hotel, drop him off, and he’ll be all set to go to coach the next day.”
Kathy says her husband is in charge of the seating arrangements; she has decided to wear neutral white.
“I’ve got the two buttons that say my son is number so-and-so and then I’ve got the buttons with their pictures,” she said. “Of course I’ve only worn two at a time but this time I think I’ll put all four buttons on. It’s going to be interesting. I’ve never had to root for both boys in the same game against one another.”
Joining them in Florida is their youngest child Kerry, a freshman at Alabama. All of them will fly back to Tennessee to watch the Titans play the following day.
“I’m just thrilled that George will get to see both boys play,” said Kathy. “He got to see Michael play this year during his bye week. He hasn’t seen Matthew play this year at all. The toughest thing for George is ever getting to see them play live.”
Kathy says her husband will not be watching the game as a coach.
“He will definitely be watching as a dad,” she said
One very proud dad at that.
