Chris Henry

[NSL]

To anyone who doesn't know, or hasn't woken up yet, Chris Henry has passed away after falling out of the bed of a moving pick-up truck yesterday. His fiancee was driving away after an argument, and he jumped in...Homicide detectives have been put on the case, so there's obviously more to this than we may ever know.

He had turned his life around, from what everyone is saying, so I don't think this was anything more than an argument gone wrong. He was young, and had a long career ahead of him. The Bengals don't lose anything on this season, but this will obviously affect them for next year, and the future...

Thoughts?

 

[CH David]

This is definitely a sad day. Hopefully Dewey or Shocky can comment further since they are probably more in the know. Right now I'm watching reactions on SportsCenter, and just saw Ochocinco talking, and he was very emotional about it. From a team perspective, it may motivate the team even more to do it for Chris.

As for on the field, like NSL said, it isn't a huge issue right now since he was on Injured Reserve. But for the future it could be, because he was starting to do very well, and could have been a 2 or 3 behind Chad. But this is definitely sad to hear he passed so young.

 

[Shocky]

Where to begin. As a football fan of Cincinnati, pretty much my life can be summed up with the word, Frustrated. I'm old enough to remember the last Super Bowl the Bengals competed in, and I'm old enough to know that I don't like the 49ers, or Notre Dame. Whether it be to the next to non existant Bearcat football program with the 5000 or so fans that showed up each Saturday and made it embarrassing to see a 35,000 seat stadium look empty, or the ineptitude that described the Decade of Dread of the 90's and the Bengals.

This decade has changed things. The Bengals hired Marvin Lewis, the Bearcats received an invite to the Big East, and things have changed. The Bengals are on the verge of winning their second AFC North title in 4 years, the Bearcats just wrapped up their second Big East title. Hell, the teams in my city are 21-4 this year, I can't remember, well it's never happened.

These last few weeks have sent me on a roller coaster ride I've never experienced as a sports fan. The Bearcat comeback against the Pitt Panthers was the best sporting event I have ever been to in person. The excitment and enthusiasm, watching all of the Pittsburgh fans leaving their stadium, an amazing feeling. Last week provided the ultimate feeling of Anger and Betrayal, as I watched a man in Brian Kelly essentially turn his back on a 12-0 team of guys that busted their ass for him. Yesterday afternoon the Rollercoaster goes back up, with the hiring of Butch Jones and the sense of excitment of what this guy can bring to the table.

Then today. Words can't describe as a fan how I feel today. This is the ultimate sadness I believe it can get as a sports Fan. Chris Henry was a guy that came to the Bengals in 2005, and simply lit it up. Instantly he became a deadly target for Carson Palmer, and I believe that the Bengals had the best WR trio in the league with Chad, TJ and Chris Henry. He was a Steelers and Ravens killer, which in this town puts you on pedestal.

Sure, there were the off field problems. As Marvin Lewis said, Hurricane Katrina led to a lot of issues with Henry. Chris Henry, I believe at the age of 23, had 15 or so displaced family members living with him in Cincinnati. And as we all know from Huricane Katrina, the perception that everyone that survived that was an innocent victim is far from the truth. Yes, there were bad apples, and yes, Chris Henry was unfortunately loyal to these bad apples that ultimately led him getting cut from the team.

Was I critical of the team when Chris Henry was brought back to the team, not really. Mike Brown went out on a limb, went against his coaching staff and members of the Bengals Organization, and brought the man back. Since 2008, the man has had a clean slate, and ultimately, it looked like Mike Brown was right in the end.

I remember going to training camp this year, Chris Henry was the first man on the practice field before the scrimmage. Not just the first man, but Slim 15 was out there a whole 30 minutes before anyone else came out. Chris was on the opposite side of the field, playing with his kids. It was one of those moments when you were like, hey, it seems like this guy finally gets it.

As a fan, I'm saddened, very saddened. This is one of the worst feelings I have ever had as a fan of sport. If people want to mock me, that's fine, I get it. I've invested alot into this man, Merchandise and a willingness to stick with him and hope he turns the corner. I cheered for him, and was frustrated with his off the field problems. In the end though, a 26 year old man that looked to have turned the corner has died, leaving behind three young kids, which no one wins in this situation.

RIP Slim 15.

 

[Pimpin]

It's sad to hear about any athlete that dies at a very young age. From what i've heard, he was turning a new leaf so to speak & this is the second time this year that the Bengals have had to deal with a situation like this. Like CH David said, it may motivate the Bengals even more to do it for Chris.

As for on the field. I do agree that it doesn't make a difference for this season as he was on IR, but with the type of year that he was having before his injury. It might affect them in the future as Henry was putting up decent numbers before his injury and he could've been a number two or number three receiver for the team.

It's really sad to hear about a player passing away so young and it's especially sad to hear a player pass so young while he was turning his life around. RIP Chris Henry.

 

[Ty Burna]

Man this is sad to hear. I read he was in critical condition last night and he was fighting for his life. I was really hoping he was going to pull through and continue on with his life. Unfortunately that didn't happen and he passed away from an accident that could have been preventable.

Regardless of the why, it's the effect that this man was only 26 years old, had kids and was planning on getting married to his fiancee. From the looks of things he was starting to get his life on track. He was staying focused on football and not allowing any off the field incidents take place. He took his second chance and he ran with it, working his ass off to becoming a very good football player and a better person overall.

As a fan, I'm saddened, very saddened. This is one of the worst feelings I have ever had as a fan of sport. If people want to mock me, that's fine, I get it. I've invested alot into this man, Merchandise and a willingness to stick with him and hope he turns the corner. I cheered for him, and was frustrated with his off the field problems. In the end though, a 26 year old man that looked to have turned the corner has died, leaving behind three young kids, which no one wins in this situation.

I feel for you Shocky, I've been down this path before as well, back in 2001 when Korey Stringer died during training camp. Stringer was by far my favorite offensive lineman on the Vikings, a player who's style I tried to emulate while playing for my school football team. To say I was crushed when he died would be an extreme understatement. I honored Korey Stringer that year by switching my jersey number to 77, and it was the number I used for my years in high school football. I played left tackle just like Korey did, and I was proud to wear the same number he did.

I pray for Chris Henry's family, and for his Bengals teammates, they'll all be hurting come this Christmas season, so keep them in your thoughts.

RIP Chris "Slim" Henry

 

[Mitch Henessey]

This is a tragedy. Henry was on his way to making a comeback, after finally getting past all of his off the field problems, and then this happens. It's sad because the Bengals are having a good season, Carson Palmer is healthy, and the AFC is almost wide open for the taking in the playoffs, so the Bengals could have a chance to do something.


Henry had turned his life around, but it was cut short by this unfortunate accident.

RIP Chris Henry.

 

[The Dewbliners]

This is indeed tragic. In fact, I was holding onto hope last night, that he'd pull through, and be able to take the field next year. As somebody already pointed out, his impact this season has been minimal, until this week. We won't know yet whether his untimely passing will be a positive influence (make the Cats play better) or negative (serve as a "distraction"), but that's neither here or there. Watching the ESPN coverage, I almost got choked up with Chad's response. All I can say is, the Slim and his family are in my thoughts today, and he was entirely too young to pass away. At least there's the comfort knowing he'd gotten his act together, and apparently had gotten back with God before all this happened, so he's in a better place.

 

[Theo Mays]

Chris Henry was one of my favorite Bengals. The guy was finally turning himself around and was getting back into the swing of things. It is a shame this happened. I'm at a lost at words. It really is a shame. RIP Chris Henry.

 

[INDYjon22]

Yeah, this is a real shame. I was a big fan of Chris Henry from the start of his career. He really stuck out to me considering he was so skinny for being a wide receiver yet he always managed to play at a high caliber. It's strange how one minute someone is here and the next minute they are gone. Rest in peace Chris Henry.

 

[gd]

Sucks that this had to happen, especially for a man who finally seemed to understand things in his life. The guy was super talented and always killed us when he was at WVU and on the Bengals. He really had the potential to become a great player now that he was straighteneing the rest of his life out.

It's been a tough year for the Bengals with Henry's death and the death of the Zimmer's wife. It'll sure as hell be tough to go out there and compete on Sunday, and you can't blame them.

 

[X]

When I came home from work today and flipped on ESPN I was in complete and total shock at this story. Chris Henry was a damn good football player that unfortunately couldn't stay out of trouble during his life, which always affected his work. To see Chad Johnson fighting through the tears while being interviewed was really heart-breaking stuff. It's always sad when someone dies, especially someone so young and with children.

This sucks big time. And not just because Henry was on my fantasy team.

 

[Tenta]

I'm not going to lie, I wasn't always a big fan of Henry. Thought he was kind of a miscreant, a la Pacman Jones. Then I saw a clip on Sportscenter which featured him, and his family in which he took in family from Katrina. It legitimately touched me, and almost brought me to tears. Not much brings me to tears in this world. Chris Henry, unfortunately, may be remembered more for his death than his life, which is sad to say. The guy was a good player, and his teammates seemed visibly shaken up by the death. Not only that, but the guy had a family to raise. He was in a contract year, but the Bengals were probably going to have him back, and he was probably going to be the same star he was in his rookie year, minus all the off the field issues. Now, we can only wonder what might have been, and why people are taken so soon from us.

This morning, I was sifting through ESPN again. Someone made the comparison to Chris Henry and Sean Taylor's death. The idea was based on a careless death from a guy who had turned his life around. It's a shame this is the case, and should be a warning to any rookie that enters the league; it's a sad statement to say, but perhaps this could be something we can all learn from

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

from what little I saw of Chris Henry (mainly ESPN highlights) he reminded me a lot of TJ Houshmenzadeh. the way he carried himself on the field showed how he had drastically changed. this was indeed a very say day.


R.I.P Chris Henry the NFL will surely miss a great talent