CNN
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We’ve seen plenty of sports stars make movie cameos throughout the years, from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in “Airplane!” to Dan Marino in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” and finally Michael Jordan and a plethora of NBA stars in the iconic “Space Jam.”
And we could see another one soon thanks to a bet between Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry and actor Adam Sandler.
Henry, who is a self-professed superfan of Sandler’s work, agreed to a wager during an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” where if he reaches 2,000 rushing yards in the 2025 season, Patrick would get the running back in a film alongside Sandler.
Henry agreed to the proposal and the veteran sportscaster reached out to his friend Sandler. In response, the “Uncut Gems” and “Happy Gilmore” star sent a personal video for Henry which was shown to the 31-year-old at practice.
“Yo, Derrick, I just woke up. You know that, that’s why I look disgusting, on top of the fact that I am disgusting, but I love ya. Congrats on everything, baby,” Sandler said to Henry.
“2,000-plus (yards) this year not only gets you in a movie, but we’ll have a nice dinner together and talk about Dan Patrick’s facial hair and how hard it is for him to grow it.
I love ya and keep it up.”
Henry replied to the video on social media afterwards, saying: “Dan you’re a real one! Adam Sandler is da (GOAT)!! I appreciate the extra motivation!”
Henry has already surpassed the 2,000 rushing yards mark in a season before, doing so in 2020 when he ran for 2,027 yards while with the Tennessee Titans.
Last season, Henry finished just 79 yards short of 2,000 yards, finishing with 1,921 in his first season with the Baltimore Ravens.
He is one of just nine running backs ever to reach the milestone and would become the first ever player to do it twice if he was to do it again.
Earlier this offseason, Henry signed a two-year, $30 million contract extension with the Ravens. And despite being one of the older running backs in the league, he says he’s not concerned about his age.
“I want to be great,” Henry told. “No matter how good it is or how bad it is, I’m always focused on me trying to get better each and every day and each and every way I can. I think, for you to be great, you have to focus on being consistent. You got to outwork everybody and that’s the approach I have to take.
“I love football. I love playing. I know people look at the age, but I don’t really try to focus on that. I just focus on: how can Derrick Henry be better? How can Derrick Henry help the Ravens get to where they want to get to?”
