It’s in their Genes | The Henriquez

For the Henriquez family, sports are a way of life

Story and photos by Jim Hague

The multi-talented Henriquez clan has earned the title First Family of Hoboken athletics. Just like the uniform number that the Henriquez men wore, they always wanted to be No. 1.

Four members were selected as the Athlete of the Week by the Hudson Reporter Newspapers:

Anthony, Sr., twin daughters Jaeda and Alizea, and son Anthony, Jr.

And yes, the twins were honored separately.

Anthony Henriquez, Sr. grew up in the Hoboken projects, at 320 Jackson Street, with many of the all-time great athletes who went on to star for the Redwings.

Of Dominican descent, the elder Henriquez was destined for baseball, not football like the rest of the kids who lived in the projects.

His parents, Juan Antonio and Maria Henriquez, were born in the Dominican Republic.

“My father always told me to go play baseball,” Henriquez said. “My father didn’t want me to play football.”

His parents were adamant.

“My mother always said that if I played football that I’d get hurt,” Henriquez said.

He lived in the same building with former Penn State quarterback Rashard Casey.

“We used to play building against building,” Henriquez said. “I said to myself, ‘I can do this.’ I really liked football a little bit more than baseball. Every play, there was something going on. I was able to run all over the field and do something.”

He joined the Redwings squad in the early 1990s.

“I signed the papers that allowed me to play,” Henriquez said. “I never told my parents. I kept my equipment at my grandmother’s house.”

Henriquez became a dominant linebacker on defense and solid blocking fullback on offense, a key member of a team that won an astounding 67 of 68 games in one stretch, and five NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group III championships in a six-year span.

College Bound

“I knew that I could become the first person from my family to go to college,” Henriquez said.

He earned a scholarship to play linebacker at Kent State University in Ohio, where he was a teammate of NFL Pro Bowlers Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers and James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Henriquez led Kent State in tackles his junior year, collecting 123 in 2001, but was slowed after breaking his foot in the 2002 season opener.

Henriquez returned to Hoboken to live with his wife, the former Jasmin Montalvo, who was also a fine Hoboken High athlete.

The couple raised six children. The eldest are the twins Jaeda and Alizea, who excelled in soccer, basketball, and softball for the Redwings.

The twins had one goal in life—pleasing their demanding father.

Twin Peaks

“He would throw rocks and make us hit the rocks,” Jaeda said. “He would hit the ball hard to make us better fielders. If we missed the ball, he’d hit the ball even harder. But it definitely made us better players. All I wanted was to make my mom and dad proud.”

Jaeda played third base. Alizea, like her father, was catcher.

“He helped me so much to block balls in the dirt,” Alizea said. “Having a tough father helped me and Jaeda become better all-around athletes. Having a dad teach me the ways of life was a big help. There was a standard to live up to. I think we wanted it more than he wanted it for us.”

It also helped having a twin sister to compete with.

“Her competitiveness pushed me,” Alizea said. “I wanted to be better than her. And I think we both wanted to be No. 1 in Daddy’s eyes.”

Jaeda, Anthony Jr., Anthony Sr., and Alizea

Jaeda, Anthony Jr., Anthony Sr., and Alizea,

Jaeda and Alizea headed off to Goldey Beacom College in Wilmington. Jaeda concentrated on softball while Alizea played soccer and softball.

Another Anthony

Meanwhile, kid brother Anthony, Jr. was flexing his muscles in Hoboken.

Sharing a name with his famed father, he had an even tougher road to travel.

“It was very hard for me,” Anthony, Jr. said. “When I played PAL [youth football], I would feel like I had a good game, and he would tell me all the bad things I did. I once had to ask him, ‘Dad, will you please stop yelling?’”

Anthony Jr. felt a lot of pressure having a father who was a standout football player and two older sisters who were dominant athletes.

“I most definitely looked up to my sisters,” Anthony said. “But after my sophomore year, I never got Athlete of the Week, and they kept reminding me. It made me go harder.”

The family college football star was also a looming presence.

“I once told him that I wanted to be like him, and he said, ‘No, you have to want to be better than me.’”

After his sophomore year at Hoboken, young Anthony felt lost.

“All he wanted to do was sit in front of the TV, eat, and play video games,” Anthony Henriquez, Sr. said. “I knew I had to give him a little tough love. I didn’t want him to look back later in life and regret it.”

Seeing the Light

“That summer, I started to eat correctly,” the younger Henriquez said.

Jaeda and Alizea Anthony Jr., Joshua and Anthony Sr.

“I started lifting weights more. I got on the treadmill.”

As a junior, Anthony collected 149 tackles, surpassing the mark his father set as a Redwing. He joined the wrestling team for the first time and advanced to the District 10 semifinals, at 220 pounds.

Anthony Jr., Joshua and Anthony Sr.

Jaeda and Alizea

This past season, Henriquez rushed for 644 yards and scored eight touchdowns, while collecting 110 tackles, the second highest total in the state. He was named the 2020 Hudson Reporter Most Valuable Player.

“I knew that I had to go hard every snap,” Henriquez said. “I always ran to the ball.”

In keeping with family tradition, on Oct. 23, 2020, Anthony Henriquez, Jr. was honored with The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week. His sisters could no longer razz him, and his father beamed with pride.

“The gift for me was teaching them,” Anthony Sr. said. “I had a huge sense of pride watching them. All I needed to hear was, ‘I love you, Dad.’ I’m grateful for that.”

More Where Those Came From

Three more Henriquez kids are on the horizon. Ten-year-old Joshua is a star with the Hoboken Pop Warner program, wearing the No. 1 jersey like his father and brother. Another set of twins, A.J. and Jordyn, are six.

The Henriquez sisters, 21, are still at Goldey Beacom. Jaeda is majoring in psychology, hoping for a Master’s degree and perhaps a doctorate.

Alizea is a business administration major, focusing on healthcare management. She’s due to give birth to a boy in February.

“It’s always great to be a Henriquez,” Alizea said, rubbing her baby bump.

Anthony and Jaeda have lion tattoos, and Dad will get one soon.

“Mine will be the Lion King,” Anthony, Sr. said with a laugh.

It’s all part of the Circle of Life for Hoboken’s First Family of Sports.—07030