KJ Henry thankful for his dad's medical blessing, inspired by family on and off field

KJ Henry credits "a great duo" with his parents to setting a high bar for him.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Jul 21 12:12:03 GMT-04:00 2022

CHARLOTTE, NC – KJ Henry isn’t ready to add the title of Doctor to his name, but he is thankful that his parents instilled in him at an early age the importance of academics. He’s also thankful he still has his dad in his life after a scary medical situation.

The North Carolina native enters 2022 having registered 88 career tackles (19.0 for loss), 10.0 sacks, five pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and one forced fumble in 1,112 snaps over 44 career games (10 starts).

He put together a career year last season with a strong finish, ending credited with 28 tackles (6.5 for loss), 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 339 snaps over 13 games (four starts). He was also an All-ACC Academic Team selection, and he credits his parents for his academic success.

“Definitely from Keith Henry and Nicole Henry. No doubt about it. Love my parents,” he said at Wednesday’s ACC Kickoff. “More Nicole Henry than Keith. There's no doubt about that either.”

Henry earned degree in sports communication in December 2020 in only three years and then added a Master’s degree in athletic leadership in December 2021. He joked that while he wasn’t quite ready to add a doctorate to his list of achievements, he doesn’t mind staying in school.

“As long as Coach Swinney is going to keep paying for it, I'm going to keep learning. We're going to do that,” Henry said with his trademark smile. “Honestly, I just saw my time at Clemson as filled with gratitude, and I think really any time someone is going to take the time and the energy to invest in me, it's only right that I give my best foot forward and that included me graduating in three years. Didn't really have any aspirations to get my Master's, but knowing what I want to do in the future and the fact that that's the bar that my parents set for myself and my family, I knew I wanted to reach that as well.”

Academic excellence is something that the Henry family prides itself on.

“The great duo of the Henry parents. If you had to paint it black and white, dad definitely helped me with sports and mom was on the books,” he said. “But they were definitely on the same page. If my books weren't right, then I wouldn't be talking to dad as much and vice versa. It was easy, though. Mom set that standard for what excellence was in our family. It was that simple. But I am grateful for what she's done because it placed me here today in front of you guys. I have been able to achieve a lot of great things in my life, especially academically. It was a cool thing growing up with parents like that. “

Keith Henry has lived for years with chronic kidney disease and earlier this spring was informed he needed a kidney transplant. A donor was recently found and he had his surgery last week. From all reports, he’s home and doing great.

“Pops is doing good. He lives about 20-25 minutes from here, and he's probably chilling at home, listening and watching me all day. He is doing great,” Henry said. “That whole experience has been a blessing for my family and me. And really myself. Now I get to help other families because I know it's not easy to find a donor that fast. I know that feeling of getting that call when you get that issue. It's been awesome and a blessing for my family.”