'Love Is Blind' star once drafted by Minnesota United under a different name

He legally changed his name in 2020, according to the US Sun. Why? Henderson revealed on his podcast that he was given his stepdad's last name when he was legally adopted, and he wanted his original last name back.  

In college, Henderson was a star goalie who helped Wake Forest reach the NCAA Tournament in 2015 and 2016, going as far as the Elite Eight in 2015 and all the way to the national title game in 2016. But a knee injury during the tournament meant he had to watch from the sidelines while the Demon Deacons lost to Stanford on penalty kicks for the national championship. 

On the Netflix reality dating series, Henderson said the day Minnesota drafted him was the "worst day of my life." At the time, he was on painkillers and recovering from knee surgery. 

"I was supposed to be a top-five pick, most likely a top-10, realistically," Henderson said on the show. 

"It was not exactly how I dreamt it up," Henderson added. "The fourth knee surgery came through after the team that drafted me said, 'Hey, you're not going to play again.'"

Henderson never signed with Minnesota, even though the United raved about him following the draft.  

"I saw him last year with my previous club and he was the best goalkeeper of all of the goalkeepers last year, but I didn't need a goalkeeper,” former MNUFC goalie coach Marcus Rovde said at the time.

In 2015 he was the best goalkeeper in the league and now I saw him this year and he's still the best goalkeeper in the draft and he wasn't here – I was very happy he wasn't here because if he had been healthy he would have been a top ten pick, so now we have the best outfield player and the best goalkeeper in the draft so we're very pleased.”

Here's Henderson's official Netflix bio: 

Soccer is life for Alex — and now he’s learning how to live without the game. Drafted by Minnesota United, the former Division 1 goalkeeper never expected his time in professional sports to be cut short. “I’m proud of being able to come back mentally after four knee surgeries took away my athletic career,” he says. In the game of love, however, Alex is still hoping to score, especially with a spontaneous woman who’ll embrace his inner nomad. Fingers crossed, she’ll accept Alex’s worst habit: taking a sip from a water bottle in the fridge, putting it back, and then grabbing a new one. “A couple arguments have happened because of that.” In return, Alex promises to be his partner’s constant no matter where they choose to lay down roots. “I’m a rock,” he says. “I’ve been through a lot and can be strong when the chips are down.”