Former OSU lineman Avery Henry kicks cancer to curb, focuses on political career | Oller

Cancer used to take up Avery Henry’s entire windshield, because that’s how the misery maker works. The selfish disease always has to be the center of attention, so obsessed with its all-consuming mission to kill that it blocks any view of the road ahead.

For a time, Henry could not see past it, his vision of the future obstructed by the bone cancer that threatened his life and trampled his dream of playing in the NFL. The former Ohio State offensive lineman was diagnosed with osteosarcoma on Dec. 16, 2022 – survivors always remember the date – and initially thought his world was in ruin. No more football, the doctors told him. He’d be lucky if, after surgery to remove the cancer from his right wrist, he could lift a 20-pound dumbbell.

“I was extremely anxious,” Henry said Friday, exactly one year removed from being declared cancer free, and a few months after lifting weights well above 20 pounds. “When you hear the term cancer, you don’t think positively, unfortunately. Especially bone cancer, which is so strong and aggressive. I can’t lie. What came into my head when thinking about what could happen was not good.”

Henry was 19, too young to ponder mortality and wonder how they would fit his 6-foot-6, 300-pound frame into a casket. Teens should be able to live in the present while preparing for the future.

Cancer doesn't care about any of that. It detests mercy almost as much as it hates to lose.

But this time it lost. Or at least it trails something like 72-6 on the prognosis scoreboard.

“In two years I’ll get my check-up every six months. I have them every three months now,” he said. “The farther you are being cancer-free, the lower percentage of you getting cancer.”

Put another way, cancer has moved from Henry’s windshield to his rearview mirror – still visible, but no longer shielding his forward vision.

And what a vision it is.

Former OSU lineman eyes political career

Henry’s passion for seeking truth and justice, combined with a willingness to compromise and an ability to see all sides of an issue, has him thinking big.

“I hope this will lead to me being governor,” he said of his political aspirations, which have elevated since his football career ended. In that way, the disease made a rare misstep by leaving room for hope instead of heartbreak.

“It really pushed me to figure out what I wanted to do in life,” the political science major said. “I always wanted to be someone people looked up to. At first, I thought about being a motivational speaker, through my football career. But eventually, I found (politics).”

Henry is just beginning to put the word out, mostly on social media, that his common sense approach to government is what a polarized nation needs.

“I have ideas that are both Democrat and Republican,” he said. “When I was doing my own quantitative research I found that 75% of people want a third party. Maybe that’s the road America goes down eventually. At the end of the day, we – the American people – have the say.”

Henry is all about having a say, as long as it is said with civility. He recently visited the OSU campus protests on the South Oval, noting the demonstrators behaved peaceably.

“I believe in peaceful protest and going and saying what you believe,” he said. “What I witnessed firsthand was peaceful. They were holding signs and weren’t stopping anyone from walking anywhere, which when you stop people, it is not peaceful anymore.”

Henry also holds strong opinions on the integrity, or lack thereof, enveloping too many government employees.

“There are too many corrupt officials right now,” he said. “When a person is only supposed to make $200,000 but their net worth is $200 million, you obviously know some bribery in the back is happening. You don’t have to be smart to know that.”

Henry makes no bones about it. He wants to be in a position of power and leadership where he can help millions of people.

“I see both sides working together,” he said, adding that being bi-racial helps him relate to multiple ethnicities. “I look at it as the defense and offense working together in the offseason. When that happens you have a great football team that gets things done. It’s simple as that.”

Since childhood, the big kid from St. Clairsville has been intrigued by public policy. That interest likely would have remained more hobby than career if not for the cancer, which forced Henry to medically retire from Ohio State in July of 2023. (The 21-year-old is open to returning to the Buckeyes, but has not been medically cleared by the school.)

Henry saw no game action as an OSU freshman in 2022 but still saw a potential path to the NFL until the surgery that removed a 3-inch piece of bone from his lower right arm.

“The doctor told me if things go well that I’d be able to play football again,” Henry said. “But during the surgery, there were complications … and afterward I was unable to do anything with my right hand.”

Henry experienced stages of grieving, not knowing then that he eventually would regain use of his hand.

Avery Henry hit cancer low point but bounced back

“I hit a low in my life,” he said. “I was going through cancer and no longer able to go after my dream, what I always wanted to do and had worked 15 years for. And it was all thrown away just like that.”

Down but not out, he weighed his options, recalling how he weighed more than 450 pounds before dropping nearly 200 pounds between his sophomore and junior years at St. Clairsville High School. He restricted his diet to grilled chicken and rice, ran five miles a day during the summer and became more attractive to college recruiters, including Ryan Day at Ohio State.

Reminding himself that nothing is beyond his reach, Henry became determined to whip his body back into shape and set new goals this past New Year’s Day, including developing six-pack abs. Soon enough, muscle and renewed motivation replaced flab and frustration.

“Truthfully, at first I looked at it as ‘Poor me,’” he said. “Now I look at it as, ‘Cancer happened. What are you going to do about it?’ No more crying about it.”

Henry’s faith also played a part in his perspective change.

“God has his own plans for me, that my calling is bigger than just football alone,” he said.

Not that God gave him cancer, but getting cancer allowed Henry to see his situation a new way, not as victim but victor. Not “Woe is me” but “Wow is me.”

“It pushed me toward greatness, to think more and push myself and do more with my life,” he said.

The future ahead is bright. He's got my vote.

roller@dispatch.com

@rollerCD

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Politics replaces Ohio State football for cancer survivor Avery Henry