Jump to content

Chris Henry dies after being in car accident


Recommended Posts

[size="5"][b]Bengals deal with a second tragedy[/b]
[/size]December, 17, 2009 Dec 1711:52AM ET
By James Walker

The [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=cin"]Cincinnati Bengals[/url] are in the midst of one of their best seasons in recent memory.

But it's also turning out to be the most painful.

A second member of the Bengals' family passed away this season as receiver [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=8497"]Chris Henry[/url], 26, [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4750615"]died Thursday morning[/url]. According to a police report, Henry fell out of the back of a pickup truck in Charlotte, N.C., during a domestic incident with his fiancée Wednesday, suffering injuries that led to his death.

In October, the Bengals had to rally their emotions after the passing of Vicki Zimmer, the wife of Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Now, the loss of a teammate who spent five seasons with the Bengals provides another shock to the system. Right now football is secondary, but this weekend the Bengals (9-4) will travel to play the [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=sdg"]San Diego Chargers[/url] (10-3) in an important game for both teams.

In my recent dealings with Henry, it was clear that he was happy about the present and very excited for the future. Henry realized that his past mistakes meant he had one last shot in the NFL, and it was his plan to make the most of it. He was due to become a free agent in March.

Physically, Henry always had it, and mentally he was starting to get it. Bengals quarterback [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=4459"]Carson Palmer[/url] often called him a young [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=1433"]Randy Moss[/url] and praised Henry for his offseason work and dedication this year.

"He had worked through troubles in his life and had finally, seemingly, reached the point where everything was going to blossom," Bengals owner Mike Brown said Thursday in a news conference. "He was going to have the future that we all wanted for him and he wanted for himself."

But on Nov. 8, Henry broke his forearm in a 17-7 victory over the [url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=bal"]Baltimore Ravens[/url], and I interviewed him briefly in the center of the Bengals' locker room after the game. Henry's family was waiting for him, but he took a few minutes with me anyway to explain how he broke his arm.

Realizing that, I thanked him and let him know I appreciated his time for the interview.

I had no idea that would be the last conversation I would have with Chris Henry.







[url="http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/7004/bengals-deal-with-a-second-tragedy"]http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/7004/bengals-deal-with-a-second-tragedy[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[size="5"][b]Bengals mourn Henry[/b]
[/size]By [url="http://cnati.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1&id=2"]C. Trent Rosecrans[/url], CNATI.com Posted December 17, 2009 12:12 PM ET

His eyes flushed red, welled with tears, Chad Ochocinco struggled to find words to express his feelings on the death of his friend and teammate, Chris Henry.

"He was doing everything right, he was doing everything right," Ochocinco said. "My grandma always says you never question the man upstairs on decisions he makes... everyone makes mistakes, but... I don't see how Chris was supposed to go already, especially when he was on the right path."

Henry died Thursday morning as a result of injuries sustained in an accident in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday. He was 26 and a father of three.

Teammates, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and owner Mike Brown all remembered Henry on Thursday, telling a story of a person different than the one often seen in mugshots and once described by a Kentucky judge as a "one-man crimewave."


"Chris was a guy that I believe and our team believes was heavily misunderstood," Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said. "There was a lot of speculation about who he was, but the only guys that knew Chris and knew how good of a heart he had, how kind he was, how gentle he was, how soft of a heart he had, were the guys in our locker room, the guys who were close to him, his family."

Brown remembered speaking to Henry alone at a team Christmas party years ago, and finding out Henry was an interesting, intelligent and caring person.

"We knew him in a different way than his public persona," Brown said. "He was soft spoken, pleasant, comfortable to be around. We like him. He had worked through troubles in his life and finally seemingly reached the point where everything was going to blossom and he was going to have the future we all wanted for him. And he wanted for himself and then this tragedy cut him down. It's painful to us we feel it in our hearts and we will miss him."

Brown was clearly the driving force behind Henry still being a Bengal. Henry had been released by the team in April of 2008 following an arrest, but Brown resigned him in August of 2008. Despite Lewis' displeasure with the signing, the Bengals re-signed Henry following a rash of incidents early in his career.

"It's a very difficult thing with his loss and a young life and one that won't ever get to reach its full potential," Lewis said. "It's a shame where our prayers are with his family, his mom, brothers, children as they deal with his loss and I think our guys and the solemn mood we have here today."

Palmer gathered the team before their morning walk-through and told them of Henry's passing. Palmer and veteran offensive guard Bobbie Williams spoke to the team about Henry and moving on from the latest tragedy. Earlier this season, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer's wife passed away unexpectedly.

"It's tough, it's been a tough year, losing Mike's wife, losing Chris, the whole tsunami - it's been a tough year, but through these tough times, these storms, that's when your team knits together," said Domata Peko, a native of American Samoa, which was hit by a tsunami earlier this year. "I can feel it now, we're getting closer together and guys are talking to each other about what Chris meant to them. We're going to pull together and fight through this hard time and press together to get these last few wins for Chris and Mike's wife."





[url="http://cnati.com/cincinnati-bengals/bengals-mourn-henry-00918/"]http://cnati.com/cincinnati-bengals/bengals-mourn-henry-00918/[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's just so hard to know that 3 kids are waking up on Christmas morning without their father there to see it happen. I really hope that players within our organization help guide those kids..

This is just so unreal.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[url="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Bengals"][color="#2fc2ef"]#Bengals[/color][/url] will wear helmet stickers, pins for the coaches on Sunday at San Diego
[url="http://twitter.com/ctrent/status/6768249719"]37 minutes ago [/url]from [url="http://www.seesmic.com/"]Seesmic[/url]




[url="http://twitter.com/ctrent"]http://twitter.com/ctrent[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[b][url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Chris-Henry-dead-at-26-could-have-been-a-role-?urn=nfl,209517"][size="5"]Chris Henry, dead at 26, could have been a role model[/size][/url][/b]
By [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner?author=MJD"]MJD[/url]

Redemption stories are the best kinds of stories. If someone's failed, lost their way or made more mistakes than we deem acceptable, I always find myself on that guy's side.

I'm not there supporting what they've done or making excuses for them, but hoping that they'll find a way to be better. Hoping that they'll learn from their mistakes, grow and become the person they can be. In one way or another, I think we're all striving for that.

That's what Bengals wide receiver [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players?type=lastname&first=1&query=Chris+Henry&q=Chris+Henry"]Chris Henry[/url] was doing when [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AtW0mJqq7EUeUcwapiu_7qdDubYF?slug=cr-chrishenrydies121709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns"]he lost his life this morning[/url] after [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/UPDATE-Chris-Henry-dies-from-accident-injuries?urn=nfl,209366"]falling out of a truck reportedly driven by his fiancee[/url].

We know the guy had made mistakes, getting arrested multiple times and being suspended for half of the 2007 season, but those aren't important today. That was Henry's past. By all accounts, his future was better and brighter, because he had worked his tail off to make it that way. Changing your life is not easy.

Henry was doing it, though. In the preseason, his quarterback, [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/6337/"]Carson Palmer[/url][url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/6337/news"](notes)[/url], had raved about Henry's work ethic and his ability. According to Palmer, Henry had a great offseason and had "really turned his life around." Unfortunately, his season was cut short by injury when he broke his forearm against the Ravens on November 8.

He was 26 when he lost his life this morning. [url="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/RIP-Chris-Henry-one-of-West-Virginia-s-best?urn=ncaaf,209507"]Just 26 years old.[/url] For as many headlines as he had made, it seemed like he should be older. The fact was, though, that he was still a very young man. He was just entering his football prime, and considering his natural gifts and the signs he had been showing before being put on injured reserve this year, he could have gone on to have a great, great career.

That's the tragedy here. It's not that we'll miss out on seeing a man who could have been a brilliant player, it's that someone who had once been so far down the wrong path could have come back. He was on his way. If things had continued to go the way they were headed, Chris Henry could have one day stood in front of the world as an example that no matter what you've done in the past, that your future can be better. He could have told the at-risk youth of the world, "Yes, it can be difficult to change the direction of your life, but it can be done, and you have the power to do it. I did it, and you can do it."

What a great thing that could've been for the world to have. Too many times, a gifted person comes along, and we automatically make them a role model. Inevitably, they end up doing something to let us down. The truth is, though, that those were never the role models we needed. The role models we need are the people who let us down first, and then show the strength and character to fight back from that.

Sooner or later, we're all going to let somebody down. We're all going to screw up. But life is about how you come back from it, how you learn from it and how you use it to make yourself a better, stronger person.

Chris Henry was becoming that guy. And we could have used that.






[url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Chris-Henry-dead-at-26-could-have-been-a-role-?urn=nfl,209517"]http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Chris-Henry-dead-at-26-could-have-been-a-role-?urn=nfl,209517[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[b][size="5"]Run to daylight cut down[/size][/b]
GEOFF HOBSON

Posted 22 minutes ago

The Bengals will wear a No. 15 sticker on their helmets in San Diego and wear [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/chris-henry/96603ae9-bf37-425e-83af-e2b92581265d/"]Chris Henry[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/nflimg/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/url]'s heart on their sleeves.


In a locker-room huddle before Thursday morning's walk through at Paul Brown Stadium, quarterback [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/carson-palmer/b2e2fb04-af84-4af9-9491-5c1dd3354623/"]Carson Palmer[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/nflimg/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/url] broke the news they all knew was coming. Henry had died in a Charlotte, N.C. hospital from injuries sustained Wednesday in a pickup truck accident.

"Carson spoke about one thing that Chris was he was a great competitor and what he would want us to do," said defensive tackle [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/domata-peko/5a38a4b5-78a2-4c57-87c9-c03c2ce23719/"]Domata Peko[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/nflimg/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/url] in the stone-cold silence of the locker room. "To go out and win. To pull us together and go out and dedicate the rest of the season to him and Coach Zimmer's wife."

The Bengals' December run has now taken on a deeper meaning than anything like championship rings and playoff bonuses. In the last two months they have lost to sudden death Henry and the wife of their defensive coordinator, Vikki Zimmer.

And they are trying to cope.


"You have to grieve," said right guard [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/bobbie-williams/05db5b12-9c1f-4a94-b6c8-61f72348303f/"]Bobbie Williams[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/nflimg/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/url], who also spoke in the huddle. "Maybe go home tonight and hug your family a little tighter."

Wide receiver [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/chad-ochocinco/09ddc7d1-e507-4a75-ab2b-f6f17723cbf8/"]Chad Ochocinco[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/nflimg/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/url], the NFL's clown prince, broke into tears and couldn't finish his thoughts in front of the cameras as he tried to reason his grandmother's counsel of things happen for a reason with Henry's sudden departure.


"It's a terrible tragedy that just at the time he was running to daylight his life was snuffed out," said Bengals president Mike Brown in a rare press conference appearance with head coach Marvin Lewis.

It was Brown who brought back the troubled Henry in August of 2008 despite four arrests and three NFL suspensions and was rewarded with a changed life.


"It was challenging at times with him," Brown said. "But he was someone we liked and thought could regroup, catch himself, and restart his life. And to his credit, I think he did that."







[url="http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Run-to-daylight-cut-down/19f6a02a-9ee4-4b7a-b137-45f97408bf88"]http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Run-to-daylight-cut-down/19f6a02a-9ee4-4b7a-b137-45f97408bf88[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I created an account after being a longtime reader of this forum but I just wanted to share my thoughts on Slim.

Since the day he was drafted I instantly became his biggest fan, went to war for him with anyone who tried to question his actions and he let me down many times. It hurt seeing him be arrested and becoming an ESPN sideshow but I always knew that he would persevere. Marvin and MB woke him up with his release and once he was resigned, greatness seemed to be right around the corner.

I met slim at Georgetown this past training camp, I used to play basketball there and we talked about our experiences playing basketball and then he became more than jus a player to me, he became real. He started to become a legend.
Now the legend has passed and I sit here in my house and cry tears for the most misunderstod athlete this decade.

RIP Slim
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[b][size="5"]Bengals press conference: Reaction to Chris Henry's death[/size][/b]
Enquirer staff report • December 17, 2009

Bengals president Mike Brown, head coach Marvin Lewis and Carson Palmer gathered for an 11 a.m. news conference today at Paul Brown Stadium to talk about the life of Chris Henry and the situation surrounding the team.

Here are brief highlights of what they had to say:


[b]• [url="http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=AB&Dato=20091217&Kategori=SPT02&Lopenr=912170802&Ref=PH"]Photos from the press conference[/url][/b]


[b]Marvin Lewis[/b]
* Laughed about Henry celebrating at rookie camp after catching his first deep ball in practice. He stuck his finger up in the air after the catch.

* Said he saw Henry expanding as a person on the field and off the field

* Said team has to rely on the strength of each other - and they will handle the adversity on the field because they are professionals.

* Declined to say what he told players.

* Said team was comfortable with Chris Henry being away while being on injured reserve. Lewis said Henry became a different person.


[b]Mike Brown[/b]
* There are no details yet on Chris Henry funeral

* Bengals knew Chris Henry in a different way than the public. Said loss is painful and we will miss him.

* Remembers talking with Henry at an X-mas party . Says Henry was gentle, alert, interesting to talk to. "He won me over."






[url="http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091217/SPT02/312170037/1066/Press+conference+reaction"]http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091217/SPT02/312170037/1066/Press+conference+reaction[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[url="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Bengals"][color="#2fc2ef"]#Bengals[/color][/url] will wear a black helmet sticker with the No. 15, outlined in orange
[url="http://twitter.com/ctrent/status/6769568249"]5 minutes ago [/url]from [url="http://www.seesmic.com/"]Seesmic[/url]



[url="http://twitter.com/ctrent"]http://twitter.com/ctrent[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[url="http://www.local12.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=43869@wkrc.dayport.com"]
[/url]VIDEO: [url="Javascript:IDMPlayer.Controls.PlayVideoOnPage("]Bengals Organization Comment On Death Of Wide Receiver Chris Henry[/url]



[url="http://www.local12.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=43869@wkrc.dayport.com"]http://www.local12.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=43869@wkrc.dayport.com[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='oldschooler' date='17 December 2009 - 02:08 PM' timestamp='1261073303' post='844076']
[url=""] [/url] Tearful Chad Ochocinco talks about Chris Henry's Death :(



[url="http://www.wlwt.com/video/21992736/index.html"]http://www.wlwt.com/video/21992736/index.html[/url]
[/quote]
God that's hard to watch at the end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='JC' date='17 December 2009 - 01:04 PM' timestamp='1261073063' post='844073']
Holtzman just reported Chad was wearing 15 on the practice field.
[/quote]



[url="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Bengals"][color="#2fc2ef"]#Bengals[/color][/url] @[url="http://twitter.com/OGOchoCinco"][color="#2fc2ef"]OGOchoCinco[/color][/url] wearing No 15 for practice today
[url="http://twitter.com/ctrent/status/6769833999"]11 minutes ago [/url]from [url="http://www.atebits.com/"]Tweetie[/url]



[url="http://twitter.com/ctrent"]http://twitter.com/ctrent[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='oldschooler' date='17 December 2009 - 01:08 PM' timestamp='1261073303' post='844076']
[url=""] [/url] Tearful Chad Ochocinco talks about Chris Henry's Death :(



[url="http://www.wlwt.com/video/21992736/index.html"]http://www.wlwt.com/video/21992736/index.html[/url]
[/quote]

That gets me choked up. Chad is a good person.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='oldschooler' date='17 December 2009 - 01:08 PM' timestamp='1261073303' post='844076']
Tearful Chad Ochocinco talks about Chris Henry's Death [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif[/img]



[url="http://www.wlwt.com/video/21992736/index.html"]http://www.wlwt.com/...2736/index.html[/url]
[/quote]








[size="5"][b]Ochocinco on Henry: "He's going to be missed"[/b]
[/size]Posted by Michael David Smith on December 17, 2009 12:16 PM ET

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco is known as one of the NFL's most jovial players. But he cried in the Bengals' locker room today as he talked to reporters just hours after the death of his friend and teammate, Chris Henry.

"Chris was a very good -- very good -- friend of mine, really extremely close," Ochocinco said. "It's sad to see that it's come to this point. I'd just talked to Chris Tuesday night. He called to see how I was doing."

Ochocinco said he was proud of Henry for turning his life around and shocked at the news yesterday that he had fallen from a pickup truck after a domestic dispute with his fiance.

"He's been doing everything right," Ochocinco said. "My grandma always said you never really question the man upstairs on a decision he makes because he never makes mistakes. But I don't see how Chris was supposed to go already. Especially because he was on the right path. H e's going to be missed."

Ochocinco and Henry have been teammates since the Bengals drafted Henry in 2005.






[url="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/12/17/ochocinco-on-henry-hes-going-to-be-missed/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/12/17/ochocinco-on-henry-hes-going-to-be-missed/[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...