KJ Henry, father share emotional story
By: Gavin Oliver July 14, 2023

April 29, 2023 was an unforgettable day for Keith Henry.

Keith not only saw his son, former Clemson defensive end KJ Henry, get selected in the 2023 NFL Draft. But making it even better was the fact that KJ got picked by his father’s favorite team.

A lifelong Washington fan, Keith was ecstatic when the Commanders traded up to take KJ in the fifth round with the No. 137 pick.

“I saw Washington traded up to get him, and he gets off the phone and he’s like, ‘I’m a Commander,’ and I was like, ‘Oh gosh, you gotta be kidding me.’ That was one of the best moments of my life,” Keith said in an emotional video posted by the Commanders’ official Twitter account.

A five-year contributor for Clemson, and second-team All-ACC selection by the league’s media and coaches in 2022, KJ had to wait a while to hear his name called in this year’s draft. It was well worth the wait, though, when the Commanders came calling.

“Just knowing immediately that my dad was a huge fan, I was like, ‘There’s no way,’” KJ said.

“Really just was excited. Had been waiting patiently for my moment, and it was very surreal.”

KJ and Keith share a strong and special father-son bond. So as you can imagine, it was certainly tough on KJ when his father delivered the news back in the spring of 2022 that he needed a kidney transplant – something Keith learned the previous fall.

“Back in 2021 of October, I was told that I needed a kidney transplant,” he recalled. “I would go get my yearly checkups. I would go get my quarterly checkups, and my kidney function over a number of years just started declining. I didn’t really say anything to KJ in the fall of ’21. I met with him in the spring of ’22 at Clemson and I told him, and he took it well, but I knew it put a stare, it put a moment on his face that I’ve never seen before.”

KJ quickly came to the aid of his father and took action, using NIL money to fund his dad’s transplant and participating in an autograph session with some of his Clemson teammates to raise funds.

“Just trying to help in any way I could off the field when it came to my dad, in college when his kidneys were failing and he was going to need a transplant,” KJ said. “And really luckily with the backing of my community, my Clemson community and the new rule change with NIL, those two things allowed me to just kind of help raise funds and raise awareness for him through that process.

“Our family was built on faith, so there definitely was a peace over us knowing that better days were to come and we just could do all that we could do. All thanks really goes to my community, the people who helped raise those funds, my teammates and my cousin Karen who donated her kidney to my father.”

In his Clemson career, Henry tallied 147 career tackles (28.0 for loss), 13.5 sacks, 11 pass breakups, four fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. He had a career year last season, when he started all 14 games while collecting 59 tackles (9.0 for loss), 3.5 sacks, six pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to go along with a team-high 24 quarterback pressures.

“God put him right here where he needed to be,” Keith said of KJ landing with the Commanders, “and I just pray that he’d take advantage of the opportunity and does well.”

We are excited to announce our second annual Dear Old Clemson event for the freshmen football class.  Come out on July 22 at 10 AM at the indoor football facility for a meet and greet autograph session with the scholarship freshmen from the 2023 class. Clemson coordinators Garrett Riley and Wes Goodwin will be attendance and speak at the event.

Get your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.