Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry won the Heisman Trophy as running backs for Alabama national championship teams. In the NFL in 2019, Henry and Ingram earned Pro Bowl invitations as 1,000-yard runners.

The running backs also are among the best at delivering a stiff arm to defenders. The NFL got Henry, Ingram and Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott to provide some insight on the stiff arm and its use.

“The stiff arm is vital, it’s crucial and it’s all about the timing,” Ingram said. “You’ve got to throw it like a punch.”

Ingram, who won the Heisman Trophy for the 2009 season, earned his third Pro Bowl invitation in his first season with the Baltimore Ravens in 2019. Ingram joined Baltimore in free agency after eight seasons with the New Orleans Saints and made himself at home as a ball-carrier and locker-room presence for the team with the best regular-season record in 2019. Ingram ran for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns on 202 carries and caught 26 passes for 247 yards and five touchdowns before suffering a calf injury in the next-to-last game of the regular season.

Ingram said his favorite stiff arm came as a member of the Saints. In New Orleans’ 31-19 victory over the New York Jets on Dec. 17, 2017, Ingram caught a pass and stiff-armed his way to a 54-yard gain to the Jets 10-yard line, although Ingram contends he was incorrectly marked as having stepped out of bounds and should have gotten a touchdown on the play.

ALABAMA’S TOP 10 NFL RUSHERS: DERRICK HENRY MOVING UP

Henry, who won the Heisman Trophy for the 2015 season, led the NFL with 1,540 yards and 16 touchdowns on 303 rushing attempts for the Tennessee Titans as he earned his first Pro Bowl invitation and received All-NFL recognition from the Pro Football Writers of America in 2019. Henry also was the leading rusher in the postseason, with 446 yards and two touchdowns on 83 carries in three playoff games. Henry became the only player in NFL history with two games in the same postseason with at least 175 rushing yards, and he accomplished it in back-to-back contests. He also became the only player in NFL history with at least 180 rushing yards in three consecutive games.

Henry’s favorite stiff arm occurred in the playoffs last month. Before the Titans played the Ravens in a second-round AFC postseason game, Baltimore safety Earl Thomas said the Patriots “didn’t seem like they were too interested in tackling” Henry as he ran for 182 yards in the Titans’ 20-13 victory over New England in a first-round game. Thomas said the Ravens’ “mindset is a little different.”

As he ran for 195 yards in Tennessee’s 28-12 victory over Baltimore on Jan. 11, Henry stiff-armed Thomas twice – in the head and in the back – on a 27-yard run.

MARK INGRAM ON VIRAL PICTURE WITH DERRICK HENRY: “THAT WAS WEAK”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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