Gone too soon: Chris Henry

 

By Gayle Saunders
Twitter: GayleESaunders

On Thursday December 17, 2009 The NFL lost a rising star in Chris Henry, a determinded football player who was making a valiant effort to rejuvinate a troubled career. 

Since Chris Henry was in High School, he dreamed of being in the NFL, so much so, he got the NFL logo tattooed on the back of his right hand to remind him of his childhood dreams. However, throughout his short lived career unfortunately he ran into trouble with the law as well as the league, resulting in him being suspended multiple times and ultimately released from the Bengals in April of 2008.

If you believe everything you read about Chris Henry, you would think he was an overall mean spirited person. With the stories written about him, you would never be able to know the other side to the soft spoken man that the media seldom got to see.   

Bengals Owner Mike Brown stated that “When you see him up close, you’ll find that you’ll like him. He’ll be a soft-spoken, pleasant person.”  Brown eventually changed his mind about Chris and gave him a second chance at the NFL, by resigning him back to the Bengals.

The second time around Chris Henry was destined to keep his head straight and leave his troubled past behind him. His plan was to make himself into a elite receiver again.  He got into the best shape of his life and even worked out with his teammates in the offseason, showing that he was more determined than ever to make things happen.

Chirs Henry also took a different approach to his personal life, by taking more time out with his family, spending more time with his fiancee and their three children.  Bengals players took note to the change in his demeanor. 

“He’s a great kid with a great heart,” quarterback Carson Palmer stated in training camp. “He’s changed his life around. He ran into some trouble, made some bad decisions, and realized that. He’s sorry for them, apologized for them, and has done everything he can to make himself a better person. I’m just proud of him.”

Right before the beginning of the new 2009 season, Henry decided on getting a new tatoo to represent his new outlook on life.  He had gotten the word “Blessed” tatooed right below his left ear.

“I kind of felt like I dug myself out of the hole and started doing the right things,” Henry said in an interview with The Associated Press as training camp opened. “People say, ‘How you feeling now Chris? You doing all right?’ I just tell them I’m blessed. That’s why I got it.”

When he showed up in the locker room for the first time since surgery to fix the fracture arm that he sustained in the Baltimore game, Henry was confident he could get through the latest setback.

“It just comes with time, you know?” he said. “I learned to handle all situations, so I’ll be all right.”

With the loss of Chris Henry, this is the second death of the season for the Bengals organization.  Defensive Coordinator, Mike Zimmer, lost his wife earlier this season, who was very close to the team. In this difficult time, the Bengals as well as the rest of the NFL family will now try and find a way to focus on football.

R.I.P. Chris Henry, 1983-2009.  He is survived by his fiancee’ and his three children.