Drew Henson has heard the talk all season long. No matter where he turns, the questions always haunt him.

But, a NFL team finally put its money where its mouth was when the Houston Texans took Henson, the Columbus Clippers’ third baseman, in the sixth round of the NFL Draft yesterday.

The entire week leading up to the draft, reporters constantly badgered Henson, a former Michigan quarterback, on whether he was going to give up baseball to pick up the pigskin in the NFL.

And all week long, Henson continued to reiterate that baseball was his game.

“Until I’m playing every day in the big leagues in Yankee Stadium, football is going to be an issue,” Henson said. “People are always going to wonder because that’s what fans do.”

Fans haven’t been the only ones wondering where Henson’s future is. Since last season’s unimpressive season in Columbus, where the 6-foot-5-inch slugger hit .240 with 18 home runs and 65 RBI in 125 games, NFL officials have wondered if Henson would be the next infielder-turned-quarterback like Dallas’ Chad Hutchinson.

Henson hopes this is his breakthrough year, but it hasn’t started that way. In 17 games with the Clippers, Henson is hitting a measly .177 with 17 strikeouts. However, he has shown that power which made Yankee owner George Steinbrenner sign him to a $17 million deal, hitting three homers and driving in six runs.

As the strikeouts pile up and the struggles continue, Henson will forever hear the NFL whispers. Those whispers became just a little bit louder when the Texans, who already have a franchise signal caller in second-year starter David Carr, officially got the rights to Henson.

While Henson stands firm in his decision to continue with baseball, a switch to the NFL would not be hard for Henson, who last played quarterback for the Wolverines in 2000.

As seen with Hutchinson, a quarterback needs just one or two years to get back in the football mode, and while Hutchinson has experienced success with the Cowboys, Henson possess at least three times the talent of Hutchinson. At Michigan, Henson threw for 2,146 yards and 18 touchdowns in his junior year.

During yesterday’s coverage of the draft, ESPN analyst and draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. stated that Henson would have easily been the top pick in last year’s draft – ahead of both Carr and Detroit Lions’ quarterback Joey Harrington.

Henson possess all the skills to be a starter in the NFL, there’s no question about that.

But are we all ready to give up on Henson’s baseball career? I might be in the minority, but I agree with Henson’s decision to stick to baseball.

What most people forget is that this is only Henson’s second year with the Clippers. After being signed by the Yankees, Henson spent only 60-plus games in Double-A before being promoted to Columbus.

There’s no question that the Yankees envision Henson as their third baseman of the future, but rushing him is not helping matters. Henson’s meteoric rise to Triple-A isn’t the way to go with a young up-and-comer. If the Yankees had done things right, they would have had Henson play almost the entire part of last season in Double-A before promoting him to the Clippers. Time in Double-A would have helped Henson get used to major league pitching and the rigors of daily travel.

But now that Henson’s in Triple-A, the Yankees have to keep him there. If they would demote him back down, Henson’s confidence, which has to be low, would drop through the floor, and the NFL would become a real option.

Sure, Henson has failed to live up to the $17 million deal he signed two years ago. But I’m just not ready to give up on him yet. Just wait a few more seasons, and I don’t doubt that we’ll be seeing Henson in Yankee pinstripes on a daily basis.

Matt Duval is a junior in journalism and The Lantern sports editor. He can be reached at [email protected]. He knows he’s openly supporting a former Wolverine, but he’s gotten over Henson’s past and thinks you should embrace the right-handed slugger.