Chris Henry passes away, 1983-2009

[Madison Redskin]

I'm a Redskins fan too and I just wanted to say sorry for your loss. This incident reminded me, like other Redskins fans, of Sean Taylor's murder. It's a tragedy and may God rest his soul.

[Saxon079]

Cardinals fan here..............

What horrible news I don't follow your team very closely but from everything I heard in the news it really seemed like he was turning his life around what a tragedy..................

[BengalszoneBilly]

Cardinals fan here..............

What horrible news I don't follow your team very closely but from everything I heard in the news it really seemed like he was turning his life around what a tragedy..................

Thanks for the post Saxon. (A good friend of mine from the CardinalsFreak board) BTW, I hope our forum there returns. It's been a really tough week.

[K-DogRavensFan]

My prayers go out to Chris's family, friends and team mates. My deepest sympathy to his fans.

Some times it is not about teams.

[BengalszoneBilly]

My prayers go out to Chris's family, friends and team mates. My deepest sympathy to his fans.

Some times it is not about teams.

Well said, and thanks K-Dog.

[flaccoflicker]

raven fan here

just wanted to come over and say how greatly sorry i am for the bengals and their fans on their loss.

as a division rival respect is there always and it feels like part of our family is gone now

god bless bengal fans and players may henry finally find peace

[BengalszoneBilly]

raven fan here

just wanted to come over and say how greatly sorry i am for the bengals and their fans on their loss.

as a division rival respect is there always and it feels like part of our family is gone now

god bless bengal fans and players may henry finally find peace

Thanks to you too Flacco. Good words.

[johnswahoo]

I must say that I am a little sad about Chris's passing. I enjoyed watching Chris playing at WVU and as a Bengal. I am sad about his life being cut so short, sad that he had such an up and down career and sad for his family and kids. It's not a great day in in football land regardles if your a Bengals fan or Steelers fan or just a fan of football.

This is the second tragedy to strike this team this year I just hope that it's not the final straw that will break the camels back in the long run.

[MDK Titan]

R.I.P Slim

Titan fan here. I was absolutely crushed when Steve passed away, he and Eddie George were the main reasons I became a football/Titans fan. Now Steve has another guy to throw passes to, as Chris checks in

[BengalszoneBilly]

R.I.P Slim

Titan fan here. I was absolutely crushed when Steve passed away, he and Eddie George were the main reasons I became a football/Titans fan. Now Steve has another guy to throw passes to, as Chris checks in

Nice way of putting it.

[Pidge]

R.I.P Slim

Titan fan here. I was absolutely crushed when Steve passed away, he and Eddie George were the main reasons I became a football/Titans fan. Now Steve has another guy to throw passes to, as Chris checks in

Ha, true enough. As long as Slim goes towards Darrent Williams and not over the middle to meet ST, he'll be fine.

[Brownsbrat]

As one football fan to another, I just wanted to express my deepest sympathy in the loss of one of your players, Chris Henry.

Although we are opponents of one another, when something like this happens, we are all teammates.

R.I.P. Chris.

[keri73]

To Bengals Nation my deepest sympathies. I was at the gym working out yesterday morning when I found out..I'm so sorry.

Go west and kick Charger butt on Sunday.

RIP Chris. You will be missed.

[Ickey44]

I thought this was an interesting article from Michael Silver from yahoo sports.

Henry was contrite, optimistic in camp

Michael Silver

By Michael Silver, Yahoo! Sports Dec 17, 4:53 pm EST

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Buzz up! 85

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Print

On a warm, early August afternoon in northern Kentucky, Chris Henry and I stood outside the Georgetown College cafeteria between long training-camp practices and talked about unlikely turnarounds.

We started off discussing the revival of Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson(notes), a former Chicago Bears first-round NFL draft pick who’d found success after a rocky start to his NFL career. Eventually Henry, a trouble-prone wideout who’d washed out of Cincinnati before being given another chance, opened up about his own situation.

As the interview ended, we spoke about the Bengals in a global sense. Coming off three consecutive disappointing seasons, Cincy was expected to struggle once more in 2009. Henry, however, was convinced his team was headed for a big year.

“Oh, man, I can’t wait to see how this year plays out,” Henry said, rubbing his long hands together. “We’ve got so many weapons, and right now we’re just trying to get everybody going and see where everyone fits in. Once we do. … Man, I know we’re gonna make some noise.”

It turned out that Henry’s optimism was justified – the 9-4 Bengals are headed for their first AFC North title since 2005, and only their second playoff appearance in the past 20 seasons. Yet no matter what Cincinnati accomplishes, the men who made it happen will always look back upon the 2009 season as one steeped in tragedy.

Just two months after Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s wife passed away, Henry, 26, died Thursday morning from injuries incurred in an automobile accident the previous afternoon in Charlotte, N.C. The fifth-year receiver suffered severe head injuries after falling out of the back of a pickup truck after what police described as a “domestic situation” involving Henry and his fiancée, Loleini Tonga. The couple had three children under the age of 4 and planned to marry next March.

As of Thursday afternoon, few details were known about the horrific accident or the events that led up to it. Given Henry’s history, which included multiple arrests and NFL suspensions, some have speculated that this will prove to have been yet another example of his reckless behavior.

We may never know exactly what happened, but I can tell you that people in the Bengals’ organization are stunned and devastated by Henry’s passing. To them Henry, who’d gone on the injured-reserve list after breaking his left forearm in a Nov. 8 game against the Baltimore Ravens, was a prime example of a redemptive strain that permeates the locker room – one which quarterback Carson Palmer(notes) described to me a few minutes after I finished interviewing Henry last August.

“This organization’s very forgiving,” Palmer said. “It realizes guys deserve second chances. So many others are cut-and-dried. Here, the doors aren’t automatically closed. It’s paid off so many times. Other times, it hasn’t. But our owner believes in second chances, and I think that’s what sets us apart.”

Henry, the quarterback and others had told me, was like a different person after owner Mike Brown re-signed him before the 2008 season. I was somewhat skeptical – I’ve written my share of stories about players who’d supposedly turned their lives around, only to be confronted later with evidence to the contrary – so I decided to speak to the man myself.

Obviously, I wasn’t in a position to draw any conclusions based on a single conversation with a player likely eager to put the best possible spin on his situation. All I can do is relay my impressions: I found Henry to be shy, soft-spoken and utterly devoid of swagger; he seemed receptive to answering whatever questions I asked, and maybe a little excited that someone was interested; and I got the distinct impression that he’d done a fair amount of self-evaluation and came away liking himself much better than he had before.

“When I came into the league and did the stuff I did, I kind of was not really thinking about the consequences,” Henry said. “I figured I could play, so whatever happened, I’d be all right. I was just being young, making dumb mistakes.”

I asked Henry if he remembered his lowest moment. Without hesitation, he cited his arrest in March 2008 for allegedly punching a man and throwing a beer bottle through his car. That was the incident which led to his release from the Bengals, before Brown decided to give him another chance.

“Getting released out of the lockup … oh man, that was it,” he said. “I couldn’t believe I was there, again. I said, ‘[Expletive], this ain’t for me.’ And [later], when I thought about everything, I just said, ‘Enough. It’s just time to get down and show the world what I’m really about. I belong in this league.’ ”

Henry said he’d had a similar conversation with Benson shortly after the running back’s arrival early in the ’08 campaign.

“We sat down and talked about some stuff, what each of us had been through,” Henry recalled. “We said, ‘It’s time to put all the b.s. aside and stay focused. …. It’s time to do what we love the most. It’s time to take care of our families.’”

Henry, as Palmer had suggested, viewed the Bengals as a de facto family and greatly appreciated the fact that he hadn’t been cast aside forever.

“It seems like so many people who went through something in the past ended up on this team,” Henry said. “We’ve got some guys who are really talented but just took awhile to figure it out. I know I’m one of them. I did some foolish things. Now I’m mature. I’ve figured it out a little more.”

He said he’d also figured out something that eludes many of the best performers at his position: A realization that individual accomplishments are secondary to the team’s goals.

“I’m just gonna get out here and grind every day, do what I can do to help the team,” he told me. “My stats don’t even have to get sky-high. I just want to win, and to be part of something.”

In the end, Henry most certainly was. Statistically, his impact was understated – he caught 12 passes in eight games, gaining 236 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns. People in the Bengals’ organization will tell you that, as the team’s only true deep threat, Henry’s ability to stretch the field had been sorely missed during the six games, which is a significant reason for Cincy’s offensive struggles during that span.

Whatever heights the Bengals might reach over the next two months, Henry’s absence will linger among them as a chilling reminder of life’s fragility. Tragically, we’ll never get to find out what kind of man Henry might have become, how he might have been able to use the lessons he’d learned to touch his children and inspire others.

When I said goodbye to Henry in August, I figured I’d have a chance to see how his season played out and possibly revisit his story when the time was right. We’d exchanged cell-phone numbers, and even after his season-ending injury, I thought he might be someone worth checking up on over the offseason.

Instead, I’m piecing together memories of a four-month-old conversation, trying to read between the lines and search for answers. I won’t find them; all I can do is confirm what the revitalized receiver suspected would happen back then.

The Bengals made some noise in 2009, and Chris Henry was a part of it. He still is.

[UK Bengal]

Finally got around to saying something about #15 I have been too choked to express my feelings until now.

This man had his troubles highlighted by the media he was in with the wrong people and if he had stayed like that then I see how this happening could be considered an end to a troubled life.

But no with the help of family, friends chris turned his life around was on the verge of marriage had 3 wonderfull children and a career that was back on track to become a premier NFL player so now this has happened too soon maybe the man upstairs made a mistake chris henry was taken from us way too soon its things like this that question faith and mine has been questioned many times before.

I hold in my heart a special place for slim and will never forget the man he now was and still is.

rest in peace #15 and know that your family will be looked after and you will never been forgotten in bengaldom

[Passepartout]

Praying for his family as they are going through this hard time. And for the Bengals organization, teammates, and fans he left behind.