Butler High Football Captain Nominated For Award: How To Vote

BUTLER, NJ — Butler High School football captain Tommy Henehan is asking voters to look beyond the scoreboard.

Henehan is a nominee for USA Football’s Heart of a Giant Award, presented by Hospital for Special Surgery and the New York Giants. Voting is open online, with one vote allowed every 24 hours. According to a press release provided to Patch, voting for Week 3 nominees is open through Oct. 11.

Asked which Heart of a Giant quality best describes him, Butler High School football captain Tommy Henehan chose “Courage” on his nominee profile.

Henehan recalled a middle school game when a smaller teammate was repeatedly hit illegally and was too timid to speak up. After the referee ignored his concerns, Henehan said, he stepped in to defend his teammate, learning that “true leadership means having the courage to act when someone else cannot.”

Off the field, he said he has helped recruit classmates for a holiday toy drive, volunteered at an Essex County Special Olympics event and worked at a youth football camp. In the classroom, Henehan said, he was selected as a teaching assistant and spoke up when classmates made jokes about a teacher with physical disabilities. He also said he has been an honor roll student for three years and serves as a DECA officer.

Henehan credited football with helping him through the death of his aunt and a knee injury during his sophomore year, teaching him “to never take anything or anyone for granted.”

USA Football says 11 finalists will receive $1,000 equipment grants for their high school football programs. The grand prize winner’s high school football program will receive an additional $9,000 equipment grant, and the winner will be presented with the USA Football Heart of a Giant trophy on the field during a New York Giants home game in December.

Have a correction or news tip? Email dani.sepe@patch.com.