YULEE, Fla. – NFL star and Yulee native Derrick Henry returned home Saturday, not to score touchdowns, but to give back to the town that raised him. It was a full-circle moment, where hundreds gathered for his ‘Two All Community Day’.
“Very exciting,” Henry said. ”I’m very humbled and blessed to be able to put on something like this for the town I grew up in and everybody in this community. Kids, families having fun. Me just giving back and being a blessing to the town that raised me.”
The free, family-friendly event featured bounce houses, waterslides, games, and one big surprise. Three hundred kids received free backpacks and bikes, ensuring that many local children are well-equipped for the upcoming school year.
“I need a new bike because mine is broken,” Nine-year-old Brenson Taylor said.
“It’s a great event for the community,” Nassau County Parks & Rec director Jay Robertson said. ”We’re lucky enough to have somebody of Derrick’s stature here. Not too many communities can say that they’ve had a player of his caliber.”
Henry, who played at Yulee High before winning a Heisman Trophy at Alabama and joining the NFL, said giving back has always been the plan.
“It’s just something that I always wanted to do,” Henry said. ”That I said I was going to do when I got an opportunity to have this type of platform, is give back to the kids.”
It wasn’t just the kids who felt the impact.
“We’re glad that he still remembers us - this little town they call Yulee,” Yulee resident Shari Adams said. “He comes back for these kids and I think these kids and our whole community appreciate that.”
Henry said this is only the beginning.
“I want to do this every single year,” Henry said. ”Give back to each community that I’m in. In Nashville, where I got drafted. In Alabama, where I played college football and in Baltimore. I’m going to try to touch as many communities as I can that have impacted me.”
“We all love him and we just couldn’t be more proud of him and this to me shows exactly the kind of heart that he has,” Derrick Henry’s close family friend Tina Dunlap said.
Back in the same park where he once played ball, “We used to have cookouts here,” Henry said. ”The ballpark just a stationary park for families to come and have a good time. A lot of kids grew up competing, made friendships that last a lifetime. Scoring touchdowns and hitting home runs. All that fun stuff.”
Henry is now shaping the next generation—one act of kindness at a time.
“It means a lot because some kids don’t have anything and for him to really care about his community,” Yulee native Nikia Laster said.
A heartfelt event that truly embodies the spirit of giving back.