Greatest Football Player in SF History “Victim of the Hood”

The greatest prep football player in SF history has become a victim of the 'hood, according to his mother.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} In the end, David Henderson was what he was: the best football player San Francisco has produced since OJ Simpson -- and, statistically, the 2008 Lincoln High graduate, winner of three city championship Turkey Boys and holder of numerous city rushing records was even better than OJ Simpson, at least in high school. And Henderson was also a product of the Bayview-Hunters Point "hood," which eventually claimed his life as a victim.

Henderson, 21, had been paralyzed from the neck down since last week, when he was shot several times in the neck and head in an apparent robbery in the 1400 block of Kirkwood. He was removed from life support on Monday, according to reports.

As a star running back for Lincoln High's Mustangs, Henderson had piled up numerous city rushing records. He ran for 5,596 yards and 67 touchdowns while a prep football star, both records, and ran for 242 yards and three scores in his final Thanksgiving Day game, a 49-0 win over Washington.

Henderson had played football for City College of San Francisco but had left the program after off-field troubles led to him being benched. In May, he had turned his life around after playing for the semipro Pacifica Islanders, he told the Examiner, and was scheduled to try out for the University of Nebraska, according to his mother.

A cousin of Henderson's, Robert O'Bryant, 19, was shot and killed in the Bayview in January.

Henderson's mother, Qunzena Henderson, said his son was a victim of life in the hood, according to the Examiner.

"That's just life in the hood," she said. "And I didn't get him out of this hood."

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