David Henderson was a blur, on the field and off. And now he's gone.
The most prolific rusher and dominating football player in the history of the Academic Athletic Association was removed from life support Monday night at San Francisco General Hospital after he had been shot May 26 in the Bayview district.
David, a 2008
Lincoln graduate, was 21.
No arrests have been made. No description of the killer or killers. Just another senseless loss of life for a kid who could easily dance around would-be tacklers and speed by entire defenses but couldn't evade the streets.
Until we know what really happen, if we ever do, there's no point speculating.
Instead, I just offer the most sincere condolences possible to all those who were close to the vivacious young man. I know there are many. I feel especially bad for Lincoln coach Phil Ferrigno, who worked endlessly with David to turn his life in a straighter path.
On the field, he was the most electric San Francisco player I ever witnessed.
I recall an interception he made against Gunn High School in Palo Alto and racing down the sideline about 60 yards for a touchdown. The cliche "making others look like they're standing still" actually fit. The kids chasing him looked like they were running with lead boots.
With 10.60 100-meter speed, he had that effect on opponents.
He rushed for an AAA-record 5,596 career yards and 67 touchdowns, but his most cherished number was winning three straight Turkey Day Games, including a 49-0 win over Washington in his final game. He piled up 242 yards and three TDs in that one including a 70-yard score on his final prep carry.
It was a fitting conclusion to a storied high school career.
It should have just been the beginning, the start of a wonderful college and perhaps professional athletic career.
Instead, after brief stays at City College of San Francisco, the University of West Georgia and back home with the semi-pro Pacifica Islanders semi-pro team, David is gone forever.
How incredibly sad.
What a serious waste.
What a horrible crime.
City College George Rush, a jewel of a man and coach, said it best and so poetically when speaking with San Francisco Chronicle reporters.
"He had such an easy way about him," he said. "He made it all look so easy, so effortless. I think we all mourn for the things that should have been. David should be in college right now, enjoying life, the things that would have been, and never will be."
Here is story on the last prep game David played.Feature on David heading into that game, debating whether he was San Francisco's greatest prep player.
