Ravens' Derrick Henry climbs higher, passing NFL legend Jim Brown on the touchdowns list

Those of you who are casual fans will find some humor in the following story. Once upon a time, when Art Modell packed up his Cleveland Browns and took them to Charm City, he eventually renamed them the Baltimore Ravens. When he did so, he didn't just take his team. He brought Cleveland's franchise records with him.

When the NFL granted the city of Cleveland another franchise, the Browns were reborn. After suspending operations for two seasons, they returned to pro football in 1999 as an expansion team. 'The new Browns' had a clean slate and a new record book. 'The old Browns', a.k.a. the Ravens, all-time leading rusher was Jim Brown with 12,312 yards rushing.

You can see why this was confusing, right?

No worries. Everything was eventually ironed out. Thanks to a bit of work and elbow grease, the league made the proper decision. The new Browns were given their records back, and the Ravens were allowed to be the 'new team' that started fresh with their own set of documents and accolades.

Now, the Ravens' all-time leading rusher is Jamal Lewis with 7,801 yards to his name, as he should be, but how's this for a twist? It's hard to rule out the possibility that Henry might pass him at some point.

Derrick Henry passes Jim Brown on one list while still trailing him on another.

Following an 18-rush, 169-yard, two-TD performance in Week 1 of the regular season, Derrick Henry moved past Jim Brown into sixth place on the all-time list for career rushing TDs (108). He now trails only Walter Payton (110), Adrian Peterson (120), Marcus Allen (123), Ladanian Tomlinson (145), and Emmitt Smith (164). He still trails Brown and others on the all-time rushing yards list, but he can leap past them and into the top ten by adding 1,148 more yards this season.

Losing the first game of the season by collapsing is the headline following Baltimore's first week of action. No one should worry. They'll be fine. No one should discredit Derrick Henry's performance despite the outcome and how things ended.

Indeed, we all would have preferred that he hadn't fumbled. It isn't the desirable outcome for a fantastic night, but Baltimore will need Henry moving forward. They are certainly better with him than they are without him.

It's for that reason that we take this opportunity to celebrate him rather than ridicule him. If you're looking for takeaways, try this. King Henry has plenty of tread left on his tires. No one will be surprised or confused by reading the statement that follows. Derrick Henry is a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee. Though it's hard to determine when we were sure of that, we are all aware that we've known this for a while.

He was destined before he joined the Baltimore Ravens. Everything he does moving forward only adds to his legacy. Everything he accomplishes moving forward only pushes him further into immortality.

This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: Ravens' Derrick Henry climbs higher, passing NFL legend Jim Brown