Q: Hey Jeff, I noticed that you recently did a short interview with rookie quarterback Chad Henne. Jeff, what have been your impressions of him so far? I know you haven't exactly had a lot of time to get to know him, but is there anything in particular about him that may stand out to you?
Answered 07/29/08 12:33:23 by Jeff Darlington
A: As both a person and a player, Chad has impressed me with some qualities about him that would seemingly relate well to the NFL. First, he doesn't seem to have the mentality that the task ahead of him is anything that's bigger than him. He's a cool, humble guy -- but he also has a sense of swagger or confidence about him that I actually like to see in quarterbacks.
I also get the sense, given his personality, that he's a guy that commands respect from his teammates. That's just from what I got to know of Henne during the offseason on a few occasions when I spoke with him away from the field. After three days of practice, I'd say that's also a fair assessment of his presence on the field. I've not once seen him walk up to the line of scrimmage after calling a play without absolute confidence of what he was going to do.
He actually charges pretty hard toward the center as soon as the huddle breaks, which is good to see from a center. Now, I understand all of these qualities might not help his case at the position, but I'm just sharing with you a bit of the person I've gotten to know away from the field. We'll see what happens on it.
