Running back Derrick Henry said winning an NFL championship “means a lot” to him. He joined the Baltimore Ravens as an NFL free agent this offseason to accomplish that goal.

“I pray for it every day,” Henry said during an appearance on CBS Sports Radio’s “The Jim Rome Show.” “I literally do. I really want to win one. I want to experience that feeling. And it’s nothing like accomplishing something you do as a group, as a team, as a brotherhood, as a family, that you went to work every day with the men beside you – and the women. And to all accomplish one goal and to put all that work in for so long and to finally reach that moment, it’s like no other feeling.

“I’m just tired of it getting to that point, around that time, I’m sitting watching on TV rather than playing in it. It’s getting old now, so I definitely want to win one, and to have that feeling is definitely important to me. And if I don’t, I’ll be really sad. Hopefully, I can continue to play until I get one. But, yeah, it’s really important to me. It’s something that I really want to accomplish, for sure.”

Henry entered the NFL as a champion – winning the Heiman Trophy for Alabama’s CFP national-title team for the 2015 season.

RELATED: WHO DOES DERRICK HENRY CONSIDER ALABAMA’S GREATEST RUNNING BACK?

Henry played in the postseason half of his eight years with the Tennessee Titans. Tennessee advanced as far as the AFC Championship Game for the 2019 season, but the Titans have missed the playoffs the past two seasons and, at 6-11 in 2023, had their worst record of Henry’s time with the team.

Baltimore posted a 13-4 regular-season record in 2023 and reached the AFC Championship Game.

Henry said the Ravens’ “culture, what they’re all about fits my style of play,” making moving to Baltimore “a no-brainer.”

“Even when I was in Tennessee,” Henry said on “The Pivot” podcast, “and we were doing what we was doing, I’d always be like, ‘Who the No. 1 rushing team in the league?’ Baltimore. We could never get over that hump, so for me to be able to join that, it’s like a no-brainer. That’s what they do. That’s their bread-and-butter. I just want to be an added piece to it and see where it takes us.”

RELATED: HOW DERRICK HENRY KNEW EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT IN FREE AGENCY?

While on “The Pivot,” Henry raised some eyebrows when he expressed some surprise about the Dallas Cowboys showing no interest in his availability on the open market. The Cowboys would have made a convenient option for Henry because he lives in Dallas.

“Dallas would have been a perfect situation as well because we live there,” Henry said. “We ain’t got to move. But at the same time, the Ravens, the history of it, then talking to Ray (Lewis) at the Pro Bowl, his passion about the organization, his impact there and how he talk about it, I was like that’s something, if I’m not in Tennessee and I don’t get to go to Dallas, I’d love to be a Raven. I’m glad it worked out.”

Some in the NFL media seemed to assume that if Henry had gotten an offer from Dallas, he would have preferred the Cowboys to the Ravens.

During his appearance on “The Jim Rome Show,” Henry tried to clear up his preference had always been with Baltimore, which sought to trade for Henry last season.

“For the record, Baltimore was always my No. 1 option,” Henry said. “That’s always where I wanted to go. Like I said, I know the trade talks, it was almost going to happen. But I didn’t know once free agency started if they still felt the same way until I talked to my agent to see what was really going on.

“I know the Cowboys lost (running back Tony) Pollard, so I didn’t know if they were going to be looking for a running back. I live here in the offseason, I’ve been training here, living here for a while, so I just thought it made sense, and I thought there’d be talks. But they never really reached out.

“Like I said, everything happens for a reason. I just prayed to God to put me in the place where I’m meant to be, and Baltimore was that spot. I’m happy, and I’m excited for the opportunity. But the Cowboys never reached out, and it’s all good at the end of the day. No hard feelings.”

The Ravens are scheduled to start their offseason program on Monday.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

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