Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson
Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson
Linebacker

Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson

"I'm pretty close to probably the first guy to do self promotion and branding when it was taboo." - Hollywood Henderson

When linebacker Thomas Henderson arrived at a Cowboys’ practice in 1977 in a limousine and a fur coat, a teammate called him “Hollywood” – and the nickname stuck. During his six seasons in the NFL, Hollywood Henderson made a Pro Bowl and was part of a Super Bowl championship team, but consistently got into trouble. Before Super Bowl XIII in Miami, he mocked the intelligence of Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, whom he said “couldn’t spell ‘cat’ if you spotted him the ‘c” and the “a.’” On the sidelines during that game, Henderson used a nasal spray bottle containing water mixed with cocaine. The 6-foot-2, 221-pound Austin native, who was the 18th overall pick in 1975, partied with entertainers like Richard Pryor and Marvin Gaye; in 1983, following an arrest related to a separate incident involving cocaine and teenage girls, Henderson served 28 months in prison. After his football career, Henderson turned his life around, becoming sober, giving lectures about drug abuse, and doing extensive charity work. In 1996, he apologized to Bradshaw for his remark before Super Bowl XIII, and four years later, Henderson won $28 million in a lottery in Texas. A decade after that, Henderson won another lottery jackpot, for $50,000.