Derrick Henry, Adam Sandler & The Most Delightfully Absurd NFL Side Bet You Didn’t Know You Needed

Alright, buckle up, because I’m about to tell you the wildest story in football-land that somehow is also about Hollywood. Picture this: Derrick Henry, the bruising, relentless tank of a running back for the Baltimore Ravens, who looks like he spends half his life lifting weights that most of us couldn’t even deadlift if we had three months to practice, just got a weird little offer. And by “weird,” I mean utterly insane and completely awesome.

The man himself, Derrick Henry – yes, the guy who crushes defenders like a Subaru running over a garden gnome – reportedly has actor Adam Sandler on the line, saying: “Hey Derrick, run for 2,000 yards next season and you’re in my movie.” Yes, that Adam Sandler: the king of goofy comedies, dog-loving jokester, and, apparently, an NFL flex agent.

I’m not joking. This actually happened.

For some quick background, Henry is no ordinary running back. This guy has already hit the rare NFL elite club where rushing for over 2,000 yards in a single season isn’t just a blip, it’s a fact of life. Henry did it once before, in 2020, when he ran like a freight train possessed, piling on 2,027 yards. That’s right. Over two thousand yards of bulldozing defense, muscle, and pure willpower. For perspective, the NFL’s all-time single-season rushing record is 2,105 yards by Eric Dickerson in 1984 – a record that’s lasted so long, it’s practically a campfire ghost story.

So, hearing Adam Sandler – who yes, I realize might be best known for movies like Happy Gilmore and The Waterboy (both of which are gloriously stupid in the best way) – saying he’ll put Henry in a movie if he hits 2,000 yards again, is the kind of crossover moment that feels like it was concocted in a fever dream.

Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry, the NFL’s human freight train, training hard in May 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Here’s how it all went down. Derrick was on the Dan Patrick Show, talking about his recent $30 million, two-year contract extension with Baltimore. (Look, if you’re not excited by NFL contract details, just know it basically means Henry’s gotta keep doing his Herculean thing and the Ravens feel pretty darn confident he will.) Dan Patrick mentioned that if Henry could make NFL history with a second 2,000-yard season, he’d get him a role in one of Sandler’s movies.

Two days later, Sandler himself dropped a video message on Henry at practice. The man was straight up in a hotel room filming this. At one point, he even turned the camera on his bulldog — because, of course, every man of influence and power has a bulldog — and said: “Two thousand yards-plus this year not only gets you in a movie, but we’ll have a nice dinner and talk about Dan Patrick’s facial hair and how hard it is for him to grow it.” (This is a man with priorities, okay?)

Adam Sandler, the unexpected NFL casting agent, at a film premiere in 2024. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Henry’s reaction? Pure joy. Wide smile, “That’s my dawg,” he said while watching the video. And if you don’t think a dude like Derrick Henry, who’s built like an ox on steroids, craves a goofy Hollywood movie moment as a reward for his brutal grind, you’re lying to yourself.

Now let’s step back and think about what this means in the big picture. Henry is a legit powerhouse. The Vikings have Dalvin Cook, the Browns have Nick Chubb, but Derrick Henry is like the Terminator of the NFL RB world. You don’t stop Henry — you try, and you get a face full of destruction. If he manages to hit 2,000 yards again, that’s not just a personal victory. It’s a giant middle finger to age, defense scheming, and the gravitational forces that usually slow down running backs once they hit 30.

At 31, Henry is pushing the NFL’s version of a midlife crisis, but instead of buying sports cars or weird hats, he’s signing big contracts and running through linebackers. His recent contract extension shows the Ravens believe he’s got several strong seasons left. And as a fan, that means watching an NFL legend keep grinding.

The Sandler bet adds a silly but perfect Hollywood fairy tale layer to the brutal, violent, earth-shattering world of professional football. This is sports meeting pop culture in the most bizarre, unexpected, and oddly charming way possible. Imagine Henry breaking defenders while dreaming of playing sidekick to Adam Sandler’s next comedy mishap. The NFL is already dramatic, but now we’re getting a buddy comedy subplot.

This kind of crossover is rare and delightful, and it also proves something about Derrick Henry’s personality. The guy’s a fan of movies, especially Sandler’s classics, and is humble enough to be star-struck. (Remember, this is Henry’s favorite actor we’re talking about.) So, if Henry pulls off the Herculean task of rushing for 2,000 yards next season, not only will the Ravens have a ridiculously potent offense, but Henry might also have a foot in Tinseltown.

Last season, Henry was solid — no 2K, but solid. For him, the 2,000-yard milestone is like a mountain he’s tried to summit before and could do again with the right mix of health, offensive line magic, and sheer determination.

What happens if he falls short? Well, no movie for Derrick and no fancy dinners with Adam Sandler’s bulldog. But hey, Henry’s already a legend. This bet is just the icing on the cake (or icing on the shredded tackles, if you want to keep it football-theme). It’s an epic tale of sports and Hollywood colliding in a way that’s humorous, humanizing, and flat-out entertaining.

Can we get an NFL movie starring Derrick Henry? Sure. Will Adam Sandler’s offer lead to a Hollywood breakthrough? Eh, maybe. But it’s the idea that counts: a huge NFL star chasing an absurd but delightful Hollywood movie cameo. This story is the kind of goofy, feel-good thing we didn’t know we needed — because sometimes football isn’t just brutal physicality; it’s also pure, goofy fun.

So here’s my prediction: Derrick Henry smashes through defenders like a liver on a Saturday night, clobbers the 2,000-yard mark, and somehow, improbably, ends up in a movie. And when that happens, I’ll be right here, ranting and cheering and wondering how the hell my favorite grown men started making jokes about Dan Patrick’s weird facial hair on camera.

Because that’s the NFL now. Brutal. Beautiful. And wonderfully absurd.