Not a football season has gone by since 1987 that someone connected to the Air Force Academy football program hasn’t pined for Chad Hennings or a player just like him to be back in uniform and on the field for the Falcons.
There are good reasons the memories of his play have lingered. The goal for any team is to win games, and Hennings brought a quality of play to the field that made it easy for the Falcons to be winners. The constant call for his return provides a testimonial that he was something special – and leaves doubt that another player could fill his shoes.
Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry is clear where he stands on the merits of his former defensive lineman. When DeBerry presented Hennings for induction into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame a year ago, he told the audience Hennings was the greatest player to wear Air Force’s blue and silver.
“He was a self-made player,” DeBerry said. “He didn’t have great size when he came to the academy, and he wasn’t heavily recruited. He worked harder than anyone. If I wanted to find him, the only place I had to look was in the weight room. On the field, he made sure he didn’t let anybody down.”
Hennings won the Outland Trophy as the best lineman in college football in 1987, his senior season, as he collected 24 sacks. He was a consensus All-American and a member of the Western Athletic Conference’s all-time team. He was chosen as the WAC’s defensive player of the decade for the 1980s.
On Tuesday, Hennings receives the ultimate accolade for college players. He’s being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
“That’s a proud and deserving moment for Chad, but at the same time that’s a great thing for the academy,” Deberry said. “We’ve only had two. This was Chad’s first year of eligibility. He’s not only a great player, but a great human being.”
As with his other honors, Hennings spreads the credit among his teammates.
“To be recognized with the honor is a testament to the guys I played with at the Air Force Academy,” Hennings said. “It’s a great honor. I never went into playing football for the individual accolades; it’s always been about the team.”
During Hennings’ time at Air Force, the Falcons were 27-6. They beat Texas 24-16 in the Bluebonnet Bowl to finish a 12-1 his sophomore year, (1985). The Falcons were back in a bowl game after a 9-3 season in 1987, losing 33-28 to Arizona State in the Freedom Bowl.
Hennings was a slender tight end when he arrived at the academy in 1984 from a farm in Iowa. He switched to defense and played at 260 pounds in the last two years of his career.
“We were strictly a four-man rush team in those days,” assistant coach Tom Miller said. “We didn’t blitz very much. I did my best to make sure he wasn’t double-teamed by the blocking, and that pretty much took care of it.”
Hennings rarely talks of his accomplishments without mentioning teammates such as linebacker Terry Maki, defensive lineman John Seed and quarterback Bart Weiss.
“He will give credit to others for this recognition he so clearly earned,” Air Force athletic director Hans Mueh said.
DeBerry added: “This signifies Chad Hennings as one of the best that ever played the game. Nobody has ever deserved to be in the Hall of Fame more than Chad. He’s such a genuine person. He wanted to give something back to this school ever since he left, and he does.”
Hennings is the second Air Force player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, joining Brock Strom of Air Force’s class of 1959.
College football wasn’t the only stage for Hennings. After his graduation, Hennings served four years as a pilot in the Air Force and flew missions in Desert Storm. He left the Air Force and played nine seasons for the Dallas Cowboys, earning three Super Bowl rings.
“I had to slim down considerably so I could cram into the cockpit,” Hennings said of flying an A-10 jet. “It’s every boy’s dream to fly airplanes and be on a team that plays in the Super Bowl.”
Since retiring from the NFL in 2001, Hennings has been in private business in Dallas.
He’s close to the Cowboys in that respect, but he also isn’t far from his Air Force roots.
“I didn’t have teammates any tougher mentally or with more fortitude than my teammates at Air Force,” Hennings said. “I have a lot of comfort sleeping at night knowing that some of those guys still are serving.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
Hennings’ numbers
A look at the statistics of former Air Force defensive lineman Chad Hennings, the “most celebrated football player in academy history,” according to the Air Force media guide.
Season UT-AT Total TFL-Yds Sack-Yds
1985 47-24 71 11-105 8-35
1986 59-42 101 10-35 10-43
1987 48-39 87 7-20 24-182
Totals 154-105 259 28-160 42-260
HONORS
Two-time Academic All-American (1986 and 1987)
Unanimous All-American (1987)
Outland Trophy winner (1987)
Touchdown Club lineman of the year (1987)
WAC defensive player of year (1987)
WAC 1980s all-decade team
Freedom Bowl MVP (1987)
Selected by teammates to be captain for 1987 Shrine all-star game
Drafted by Dallas Cowboys and won three Super Bowl rings
