By Nick Hampton
Although Muskogee native Katie Henry has just one son that plays football for the Roughers (Brayd’n), you wouldn’t know it from looking at the attached photo.

“I started taking photos when Brayd’n was in the first grade with his friends, and I soon realized in growing up with these boys how close you get. So we started having them over to the house and I soon realized that some of these boys didn’t have a pair of figures in their home life all the time and you just kind of think of them as your own. Over the years, we’ve even had some of them that stayed with us for periods of time, and you get easily attached to them.”

A typical day at the Henry house will find Katie making sure that there’s plenty of food prepared for “the gang” when they come over after practice or making sure there’s a place to stay if someone needs to sleep over.

“There’s always just a lot of laughter in the house. Sometimes we’ll have campfires in the evening and get the kids off their phones to enjoy each other which is something you don’t get much of in this day and age.”

Brayd’n is the fourth generation of Henrys to make their mark on the gridiron as a Rougher including his grandfather Sammy who had a stellar career at the University of Tulsa and his father Brent who is now the president of the Rougher Quarterback Club. There’s also his older sister, Jazmine, who cheered and played volleyball for Muskogee. Mom is still taking pictures along the sideline but as Brayd’n begins his
senior year, you can hear the tug in her voice as she talks about this final year of being the “Team Mom”.

“Watching Brayd’n starting to deal with college offers has been a highlight for me, but this is going to be an emotional year for me because this has been a special group of boys. I think the thing I’ll miss most is being on the sidelines and getting those “mom hugs” from the players. But I’m also looking forward to seeing how Brayd’n and all of these boys do in college and what God has in in store for them.”

For any parent that may be on the fence about getting involved with their child’s athletic booster club,

Katie Henry has words of wisdom from learned experience.

“I’d just say to those parents, be there for them. Some of these kids don’t have anybody at home that they can lean on or trust in and you might be the only person for them. It will pay off in the future and they will remember it.”