For a player like Derrick Henry, who has carved his name into the NFL record books, he believes his legacy has one glaring omission. As he soon enters the twilight of his career, turning 32 this January, the clock is ticking louder than ever. Still, one goal is driving the Baltimore Ravens star to defy the typical running back age curve.

“I want to win the Super Bowl,” the running back told Kay Adams on the Up & Adams Show about the one thing he’s chasing.

The age curve doesn’t even come into account for what the star running back is continuing to do. With his 119 yards against Miami, Henry is only the 17th player in NFL history to rush for 12,000 yards. But that’s not it.

Previously, in the Ravens’ Week 7 win over the Chicago Bears, the Florida-born surpassed legend Walter Payton to have the fifth-most rushing TDs in league history. With 112 rushing TDs to his name, Henry leads the NFL in active players as well. But this isn’t the only feat he’s trying to match with Payton.

Like the 9x Pro Bowler, Henry is trying to defy the age curve that starts to affect most running backs by the age of 27, reaching a peak at 30. However, Payton ran for over 1,000 yards in 10 of his 13 NFL seasons, three of those 1,000-yard seasons occurring when he was 30-32 in age during the 1984-1986 seasons. Moreover, the Hall of Famer won a Super Bowl as a Bear in 1985, aged 32. So, who knows, maybe this year could be it for the RB if his team can fill the loopholes. 

Even if he couldn’t achieve his goal this year, history exemplifies many RBs who have created dominant history at 30-plus age.

Case in point, the all-time rushing TDs and yards leader, Emmitt Smith. The 3x Super Bowl champ ran over 1000 yards for 11 of his 15 NFL careers, three of them coming after he was 30 years old. In fact, when he retired in 2004 from Arizona, he had 937 yards to his name. Then there was Ravens’ Ricky Williams with 1121 yards as a 32-year-old with his second team, the Miami Dolphins.

To date, Henry isn’t showing any signs of slowing down either.

Last season, Henry put up 325 carries for 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns. Nine weeks into 2025, he’s still churning out yards like a machine: 629 rushing yards on 128 carries, with six touchdowns already on the board. If personal achievements were the focus, Henry would have his wish fulfilled.

The only wrinkle? The team around him.

Baltimore has stumbled to a 3-5 record heading into their Week 10 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. But if they somehow find their footing again, there’s no doubt Henry’s got a few more dominant seasons. However, the question isn’t about how much he has left in the tank. It’s whether he’ll finally get to lift that Lombardi Trophy before he hangs up his cleats.

Derrick Henry discloses the timeline for his retirement

The Alabama alum entered the 2025 season, his second with the Ravens, with 106 career rushing touchdowns and ranked 19th on the all-time rush yards list with 11,423 yards. The signs were clear: Henry was heading into a historic season that had ESPN’s Jamison Hensley asking about how long he plans to play.

“I tell them: ‘When I feel like it’s time, I’ll hang it up,” Henry said before the start of the season. “But right now, I don’t see that anytime soon.”

If Henry manages to tally almost 687 rushing yards this season, he’d move up to the top 10 on the all-time list, ahead of Thurman Thomas, Franco Harris, Marcus Allen, Edgerrin James, Marshall Faulk, Jim Brown, and Tony Dorsett.

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But then again, Henry isn’t focused on milestones. What he eventually wants before wrapping up his career is that one Lombardi Trophy. Whether he’ll win one or not, that remains to be seen.