Chris HenryI first heard the saying "Live fast, die young, and leave a good looking corpse" in a movie when I was about 26 years old and I thought it was a cool saying and motto to live by. It just goes to show you how stupid I was back then. I've seen a lot of dead bodies in my life since that time and not one of them ever looked "good". They just looked stiff, still, and never resembled the person that I knew. It wasn't even "them" anymore... just a lifeless clump of skin that once laughed, told jokes, and smelled bad that once I knew.
Chris Henry is that now. He lived fast... he played football, he had a pretty nice contract, and he was on a team that was in the playoff hunt. He has died young... just 26 years old... and I'm pretty sure his remains are not good looking.
He was Cincinnati's best downfield wide-receiver but Chris Henry couldn't completely run away from the off-field trouble that had long followed him. He was by all accounts a changed man... yet, Henry died Thursday from injuries suffered in a truck accident following an alleged domestic dispute.
Henry was a menacing figure on the field but, at the same time, he was described as "gentle" and "a good person" by some of his mourning teammates (who always do that, no matter what the person was really like, when someone dies). These kinds of contradictions followed Henry throughout his five-year NFL career. Was he really the "one-man crime wave", as one of the many judges he appeared before labeled him? Or, was he a kid who, according to many, was slowly but surely putting his life back together? Who can really say?
Henry certainly had the chance to stage the greatest personal turnaround of any player who has run a foul of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his personal conduct policy. For all intents and purposes, Henry had stopped the sociopathic behavior that earned him 14 games worth of suspensions. Drunk driving, drug possession, alleged assault, illegal use of a firearm... it's all there on his rap sheet. This cat was so out of control that he was once released by Bengals owner Mike Brown, who is known for having a soft spot in his heart for talented ne'redowells and problem children like Henry.
Henry, to his credit, took advantage of a second chance when he resigned in the 2008 preseason. The 6'+4", 200 lb. Henry had reemerged as a key cog in Cincinnati's offensive scheme. Henry was beginning to fulfill the athletic potential that could have made him a big star like Terrell Owens (another problem child). According to one Bengals source, the introverted Henry had quit the public drinking that triggered so much aggressiveness and recklessness in previous incidents. He became more involved with his girlfriend and three young children. He had also recently became engaged. He stayed out of trouble. At age 26, Henry was finally becoming an adult, or so it seemed. But, as the Tiger Woods debacle has reminded us, not even close friends or the media know everything that goes on with athletes behind closed doors.
After landing on injured reserve in early November with a wrist injury, Henry and his fiancé, Loleini Tonga, returned to her hometown of Charlotte, NC for a planned wedding. On Wednesday morning, local police say the two had some kind of argument that led to Tonga driving away in a pickup truck and Henry jumping inside the bed of the truck to follow. These two continued arguing, police said, before Henry fell from the vehicle. He probably hit his head in the fall. He was found unconscious on the highway. No one knows how long he had been lying out there. Those circumstances may prompt skeptics to wonder how much he had truly changed at all. The Cincinatti Bengals, though, insist he had.
Tragically, of course, we may never know now. He lived fast, he certainly died young (just 26), and most assuredly did not leave a good looking corpse. All he left was a guilt-ridden and saddened fiance, some greiving family members, teammates, and more questions than answers bout a life that might have been. Damn shame!
Chris Henry is that now. He lived fast... he played football, he had a pretty nice contract, and he was on a team that was in the playoff hunt. He has died young... just 26 years old... and I'm pretty sure his remains are not good looking.
He was Cincinnati's best downfield wide-receiver but Chris Henry couldn't completely run away from the off-field trouble that had long followed him. He was by all accounts a changed man... yet, Henry died Thursday from injuries suffered in a truck accident following an alleged domestic dispute.
Henry was a menacing figure on the field but, at the same time, he was described as "gentle" and "a good person" by some of his mourning teammates (who always do that, no matter what the person was really like, when someone dies). These kinds of contradictions followed Henry throughout his five-year NFL career. Was he really the "one-man crime wave", as one of the many judges he appeared before labeled him? Or, was he a kid who, according to many, was slowly but surely putting his life back together? Who can really say?
Henry certainly had the chance to stage the greatest personal turnaround of any player who has run a foul of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his personal conduct policy. For all intents and purposes, Henry had stopped the sociopathic behavior that earned him 14 games worth of suspensions. Drunk driving, drug possession, alleged assault, illegal use of a firearm... it's all there on his rap sheet. This cat was so out of control that he was once released by Bengals owner Mike Brown, who is known for having a soft spot in his heart for talented ne'redowells and problem children like Henry.
Henry, to his credit, took advantage of a second chance when he resigned in the 2008 preseason. The 6'+4", 200 lb. Henry had reemerged as a key cog in Cincinnati's offensive scheme. Henry was beginning to fulfill the athletic potential that could have made him a big star like Terrell Owens (another problem child). According to one Bengals source, the introverted Henry had quit the public drinking that triggered so much aggressiveness and recklessness in previous incidents. He became more involved with his girlfriend and three young children. He had also recently became engaged. He stayed out of trouble. At age 26, Henry was finally becoming an adult, or so it seemed. But, as the Tiger Woods debacle has reminded us, not even close friends or the media know everything that goes on with athletes behind closed doors.
After landing on injured reserve in early November with a wrist injury, Henry and his fiancé, Loleini Tonga, returned to her hometown of Charlotte, NC for a planned wedding. On Wednesday morning, local police say the two had some kind of argument that led to Tonga driving away in a pickup truck and Henry jumping inside the bed of the truck to follow. These two continued arguing, police said, before Henry fell from the vehicle. He probably hit his head in the fall. He was found unconscious on the highway. No one knows how long he had been lying out there. Those circumstances may prompt skeptics to wonder how much he had truly changed at all. The Cincinatti Bengals, though, insist he had.
Tragically, of course, we may never know now. He lived fast, he certainly died young (just 26), and most assuredly did not leave a good looking corpse. All he left was a guilt-ridden and saddened fiance, some greiving family members, teammates, and more questions than answers bout a life that might have been. Damn shame!
4 comments:
I agree that it's a shame about a life wasted but... Brother, how can you compare his life and situation to Terrel Owens?
I'm not the biggest fan of T.O. but other than being a prima donna (not the first at that) the man does not have a wrap sheet whatsoever.
A locker room talker and a troubled young man in my eyes just cannot be compared.
Sociopath vs Self promoting?
Keith, I am sorry the youngman time expired before he could make a complete turn around.
Very sad story and predicament for this young man and his family.
Fell off the back of the truck...hmmm. Sounds like old girl either tried to shake him or he jumped. Either way it's a sad state of affairs.
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