If you followed my Countdown To Kickoff series during the offseason then you were exposed to the Greatest Dallas Cowboys To Wear Each Jersey Number. If you started off at the beginning then there’s a good chance you gave #95 a read. It belongs to one of the more memorable Dallas Cowboys of All-Time… Chad Hennings.
Chad is still up to great things in his life past the NFL. As an alumni of the United States Air Force who served for four years defending this great nation, Chad has a work ethic unknown to you and I. He’s put that to great use as he’s shared his life with the world through his three books:
- It Takes Commitment
- Rules of Engagement: Finding Faith and Purpose in a Disconnected World
- Forces of Character: Conversations About Building A Life Of Impact
Most recently Chad Hennings has partnered up with Crown Royal’s Your Hero’s Name Here program.
Your Hero’s Name Here is a great chance to honor the heroes in your life. Soldiers, firefighters, and community leaders are all heroes to us. The project, and Crown Royal, give one winner a trip to the Brickyard 400 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. Jeff Kyle was the winner in 2015 thanks to a nomination by his loved ones. Nominations? Tell me more!
It’s simple. If you have a hero in your life that you want to honor, and we all do, go to the Crown Royal Website and nominate your hero. You can also visit Crown Royal on Facebook for more information. After all nominations are sent in five finalists will be chosen. The winner out of those finalists will receive naming rights to the Brickyard 400, just like Jeff Kyle who you can see, and a VIP experience at the race. Keep in mind that the other four finalists will also attend the race.
Chad was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to sit down and chat with me about all of the great work Your Hero’s Name Here is doing. He also gave some really great insight to the state of the current Cowboys and talked about his days strapping on the cleats as well as serving in the military.
Here’s my conversation with Chad…
RJ: So Chad, tell me all about Your Hero’s Name Here! What is it and what can Cowboys Nation do to help?
Chad Hennings: Your Hero’s Name Here is such a great way to honor heroes in someone’s life. There are firefighters, police officers, military members both active and retired that people have the opportunity to honor. All people have to do is go to the site (crownroyalheroes.com), nominate their hero, and that person is eligible to win a trip to the NASCAR Brickyard 400 race in late July.
It’s a great opportunity to highlight those individuals that you deem to be a hero.
RJ: What interactions have you had with Your Hero’s Name Here so far? What drew you into it in the first place?
Chad Hennings: We gave a tour of Valley Rance to two heroes, Phil Robertson and Trista Hopkins-Neal.
It was really great to get an opportunity to do that. A lot of people rarely get to do that and it’ll be impossible to do it in the future when the Cowboys move to their facility. Any time that we can hold up, embrace, and honor the individuals that serve I believe that we need to do it. In our current culture many responders have been seen in a poor light.
It’s time to honor those heroes.
RJ: The NFL seems to be on board with honoring heroes as well. This Sunday is the official “Salute To Service” game across the league. What do you think about that, and what do you think it would have been like to have a game like that when you were playing?
Chad Hennings: The Salute To Service game would have been great for me! Back when I was in the NFL I was one of the only guys who had actually served and played. It’s special for us as a country to acknowledge our military members and honor them for what they do on a day to day basis.
I’ve been there and I know what it’s like to be in a foreign country and flying into combat. It’s a lot of sacrifice and it can be very emotional and taxing. Military members have done that many, many times so to honor them is great.
RJ: You’ve been in the Air Force, had tours in foreign countries, and played in the NFL. What similarities would you say there are to being in the military and playing football?
Chad Hennings: There are quite a few similarities actually.
There is a lot of preparation in the military. You’re analyzing things like bomb film and what the enemy had that could hurt you. You have to put together a gameplan wherever you’re going. Life happens in the battle area in the fog and friction of war, and you have to change your tactics. When you accomplish your mission you have to debrief.
All of those lessons translated extremely well to playing for the Cowboys. You have to evaluate your own practice film and figure out what you can do to improve your game on any given Sunday. Even things like adjusting your tactics at halftime… you have to constantly be adjusting in the military.
The camaraderie among teammates is similar, too. Obviously the biggest difference is that in the military you’re putting yourself in harms way to a point where you’re willing to give your life.
At this point it really hit me that I was talking to Chad Hennings. This is a man who is a part of the football team that I love, yes, but he is literally an American Hero. I got a bit nervous and fumbled on the next play.
RJ: Chad, being drafted in 1988… what was it like to play for the 1989 Cowboys and experience going 1-15?
Chad Hennings: Well my first year was 1992. I was drafted in 1988, but I was serving in the military… so I didn’t play on that team. Haha!
I just about exploded in embarrassment. You’re welcome, Cowboys Nation. Always here to entertain. Chad was extremely gracious about it and laughed it off. He’s everything that you’d want him to be, guys. I picked myself up and continued!
RJ: Apologies! Well, surely you experienced some level of adversity. What’s that like and how is a team like the current Cowboys handling it? What’s going on in the locker room and how do you lead a locker room like that?
Chad Hennings: It’s all a process – a belief in yourself. You have to rely on the hard work you put in during practice and in the weight room. You practice week in and week out. The older guys who have been there and tasted that success are relaying it to the younger guys. “Hang in there. Don’t give up.”
You have to continue to do what it takes to win games and ultimately that hard work will pay off. We faced some adversity in 1993 when we started off 0-2 after winning the Super Bowl the year before. People thought that the wheels had fallen off of the bus. You have to have a ‘Don’t Panic’ mentality. Believe in one another. The veteran players are setting the example for the younger guys.
RJ: What’s the mentality of an American Hero turned NFL player? Do you think you had an advantage in terms of mental discipline thanks to your military experience?
Chad Hennings: Well I had flown 45 missions before coming to the Cowboys. You have to be able to fail and take the opportunity to learn from some of the best guys, and you have to put that all together.
Flying in a combat zone and putting those lessons in on the practice field… there was so much carry over. You have to keep the main thing the main thing. You can’t focus on the what-ifs like, ‘What happens if you get shot down?’. If you focus on those things you’d never be able to accomplish your mission.
Do your job to the utmost ability that you can and trust one another.
RJ: How do you think the current Cowboys can put it together this season and on Sunday Night against Philadelphia?
Chad Hennings: Nowadays anybody can beat anybody on any given Sunday. The defense needs to get several three-and-outs. They need to keep their offense on the field.
Establishing the run game will open up Dez Bryant. It’s not rocket science it’s just doing the Xs and Os of going out and executing your gameplan. We have the talent – even without Tony Romo right now. We have the talent in guys like Dez Bryant and Jason Witten that can win.
RJ: With Darren Woodson going in the Ring of Honor last week, what’s that like for you? Is it surreal to see names like his hanging up there and reflecting back on all of those incredible things that you guys accomplished together?
Chad Hennings: It’s definitely surreal to see guys in the Ring of Honor. When you’re in the heat of the battle you don’t think of those things. I look back on those teams… and we were teams that just dominated on both sides of the ball. To look back on it now, it’s special.
To point at the Ring of Honor and Hall of Fame names… it’s something that I’m going to tell my kids, and their kids, and my nieces and nephews. I was fortunate enough to play with some of the best. Darren Woodson is one of the best, he’s totally deserving of the Ring of Honor and I think he’ll be the next guy for the Cowboys in the Hall of Fame.
RJ: Which current Cowboy reminds you most of yourself?
Chad Hennings: Tyrone Crawford is a guy that’s a great talent and that’s worked really hard. He’s a blue collar guy that plays with great tenacity and he reminds me of the way I played the game.
Chad Hennings is a hero himself. He’s served our great country in combat and played professionally in its greatest game. He’s someone who we all look up to for many different reasons.
We here at Inside The Star are very grateful to Chad for the time that he gave us. We’re extremely proud of all of his great work that he’s done in his after-football life. He is one of the finest men to have ever worn the Star.
If you have a hero in your life that you want to nominate then remember that you can Right Here. Make sure that you’re following Chad Hennings on Twitter to stay in the loop with all of the great things that he continues to do to serve.
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What’s your favorite Chad Hennings memory? And who is the hero in YOUR life? Email me your thoughts at Roel.Ochoa.Jr@Gmail.com or Tweet to me @rjochoa!
