Paris QB Jaylon Henderson "My mindset was whatever it takes to win"

One of the best games of the 2025 ELF season was last Saturday night as the Paris Musketeers took the Vienna Vikings to overtime in a win and you're in game for the visiting Frenchman. 

The game included several lead changes, but perhaps the most intriguing storyline was the incredible toughness of Paris quarterback Jaylon Henderson. 

Unbelieveable grit on display

The first year ELF quarterback suffered a hit on his eye in the first half,leaving him with a severely swollen eye the rest of the game. Despite looking like a boxer who had taken a left hook, Henderson continued to play and play well. Henderson was holding a eye bag to his eye between series as the broadcast showed him fighting through adversity trying to lead his team to an upset win.  

Even with a clear lack of vision, Henderson led an inspiring comeback running the ball fearlessly despite his injury. Henderson ran for a clutch 2 point conversion with under 2 minutes left to give the Musketeers a 8 point lead giving the french team a real shot at winning and securing a post season spot. 

He finished the game with 75 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns, as well as going 13 of 17 for 176 yards passing all with essentially one functioning eye. The effort was not enough, as the Vikings won and secured the top seed in the playoffs, ending the Musketeers season with a 7-5 record. 

The Paris quarterback gave us a short interview:

Question: How are you feeling since Saturday? Is your eye ok?

Henderson: “I’m feeling like I’ll be okay, football is a physical game so bumps and bruises will happen. My eye is functioning slowly but surely, I think in a few days I’ll be fine.”

 

Question: What was your mindset as you fearlessly ran the ball even with a badly swollen eye?

Henderson: “At a point in the game when you can’t see straight, it’s loud, and you have to operate a tough offense, everyone is looking to you to lead. My mindset was that I’ve got to do whatever it takes to win the game. At that point, a lot of what I was doing was muscle memory, not so much processing.”

Watch Henderson's pre-season interview

Question: What was it like playing with your eye in that condition? Could you see downfield?

Henderson: “When I tried to open my good eye, I was looking straight and my hurt eye was stuck looking to the right, so it threw off my equilibrium. The time it took for me to focus on an object was about 8 or 9 seconds instead of right away. So not fun. But thankfully I had guys around me that still were able to make plays.”

 

Question: You are an experienced professional quarterback playing in Japan and the German football League before this year. How would you describe your first ELF season?

Henderson: “The first season in the elf was definitely a lot of fun, I think that in all the leagues I’ve played in, this has been the most competitive, I feel like I can and will play a lot better in the future. The atmosphere was one of the best I had been a part of, this has been an experience I won’t forget but will use as fuel going into the off season to come back the best version of myself that I can be.”

"Playing saturday night in Vienna was a unforgetable memory. The atmosphere was wonderful and the entire expereince was first class."

Watch the highlights of Paris @ Vienna Week 14!