Chris Henry's Legacy

Sport is full of mercurial characters that both amaze and disgust us. So many of the athletes that we revere as something more than human on the field continually disappoint us with their behavior off of it. Michael Vick’s dog fighting ring, Tiger Woods’ remarkably thorough job of cheating on his wife, and the adventures of Adam “Pacman” Jones are all recent examples of the kind of foolish and destructive behavior that these modern day gladiators are capable of. We all have different responses to their actions, and each reaction has its reason for existing. Some of us laugh off the behavior and make jokes at the expense of our troubled athletes in an effort to distance ourselves from the reality that we’re seeing. Just like we learn to laugh at ourselves during our embarrassing moments, we learn to laugh at those we revere most in order to minimize the effect the situation has on us personally. Some of us admonish these “men of men” for their problems as if we were the morality police. This reaction grows out of natural human vanity that almost forces us to use the downfall of others to artificially inflate our own self worth. We all have insecurities about who we are, but when the rich and famous among us go out and do something stupid or even criminal, it allows us to put ourselves on a pedestal above the American Royalty that celebrities and athletes represent. Others completely ignore the transgressions, claiming that they are only interested in what the athletes do on the field, and that any personal issues they may have are irrelevant. I fall into the last category. I refuse to discuss the Tiger Woods situation with anyone because I believe that it’s no one’s business outside of Woods’ family. The current TMZ generation (of which I suppose I am a dissenting member of) that laps up every bit of celebrity gossip like a cat at a milk saucer and revels in every instance of strange, inexplicable behavior that our celebrities are guilty of sickens me with their blatant disregard for anyone’s personal privacy. I think the best possible explanation for why I react to sports scandals the way I do is that if I were to validate them, it would make it harder for me to continue to cheer for these guys on the field and still retain any amount of self-respect. Sports is a huge part of my life, and by admitting that athletes’ off the field problems color their on-field performance I would be admitting that all the countless hours of athletic performances that have entertained me over my 26 years on this earth were wasted cheering for derelicts. I’m not ready to admit that this is the case, so instead of validating the ridiculous off-field behavior of these guys, I just choose to ignore it. Maybe this isn’t the healthiest thing in the world, but it seems to work for me.

Ultimately, the ugly behavior of our favorite athletes is something of a byproduct of being human. People in all walks of life make mistakes, so why would these guys be any different? We all hold them to a higher moral and ethical standard than “regular” people because of their public visibility. Whether this is fair or not is irrelevant, because it is what it is. When athletes make mistakes, the whole world sees them and silently (and sometimes not so silently) judges them for those mistakes. However, after all is said and done, the mistakes made by our heroes typically prove to be but small speed bumps on their freeway of a career. We take special pleasure in watching these fallen angels rebound and rebuild their public image to the point that their issues are almost forgotten. Ray Lewis was involved in a murder investigation just 9 years ago. Despite having murder charges dropped against him as he plead guilty to a misdemeanor in exchange for testimony against the two (now acquitted) suspects, Lewis still settled out of court with the family of the deceased for an undisclosed amount of money in order to eschew upcoming civil proceedings against him. These are not the actions of someone who is completely innocent. I’m not saying that Lewis killed anyone, but clearly he knew what happened and was familiar with the situation. In other words, I’m not saying, I’m just saying. Either way, within 12 months, Lewis was being named MVP of the Super Bowl (although Disney, the corporation founded by an allegedly raging anti-Semite who may or may not have worked for the House Un-American Activities Committee in the ‘50’s, decided that Lewis reputation should preclude him from getting to say the “I’m going to Disney World!” line that is traditionally granted to Super Bowl MVP’s. The immortal Trent Dilfer was given the honor, instead). In 2005, Ray was granted the prestigious honor of gracing the cover of Madden ’05. All of this happened for Lewis after nearly being tried for murdering another human being. If Lewis can make it back to prominence, then so can everyone else, right? Michael Vick is finding it a little more difficult to overcome has past this season as he attempts a comeback with the Eagles. He is roundly booed both at home and on the road, and until recently, his play was seemingly suffering (this, of course, could have had nothing to do with his cold reception, instead owing itself to the fact that he spent two years eating prison food and protecting his backside). Still, Vick is back and now thriving on a team that seems playoff bound, leaving the possibility that Vick will play in his first Super Bowl in his first year back from jail. My point is that regardless of what someone has done in the past, in the world of sports, second chances are plentiful.

Unfortunately, athletes are not like cats. Eventually, their chances run out. Chris Henry demonstrated this to the world yesterday when he was involved in what is now known to be a fatal accident, ending his once promising life at the tender age of 26. Henry was a third round draft pick for the Cincinnati Bengals out of West Virginia, and despite his slight frame that earned him the nickname “Slim,” Henry became an effective deep threat in the NFL before his off-the-field issues started to take their toll. A quick check of his Wikipedia page indicates just how significant Henry’s arrest record is. In 2006, Henry was suspended by the NFL for 2 games for violating the personal conduct and substance abuse policies. In 2007, Henry was suspended for 8 games for the same violations. Immediately upon his return, Henry caught 4 passes for 99 yards against the Ravens, further illustrating how his tantalizingly unique talents had the potential to shine if he would ever get his life outside football on track. In 2008, Henry was arrested yet again, prompting the Bengals to cut Henry loose. After suffering a few injuries during preseason in ’08, Bengal’s owner Mike Brown convinced coach Marvin Lewis to bring Henry back for one last chance. This time, it really would be his last one.

Henry has been out the past few weeks and was already on IR with a broken arm. We kept hearing about how Henry had recommitted himself to living a clean life and taking full advantage of the opportunity the Bengals had given him, and of course, we all wanted to believe it. Everyone who follows the NFL was hoping this kid would figure it all out so we could be entertained by his electric skills. Unfortunately for all of us, Henry’s dysfunction caught up with him before he learned how to control himself.

This NFL season has been particularly entertaining. The Saints and Colts remain undefeated after 13 weeks. Old Man Favre has put on quite a show as he continues to surpass everything he’s accomplished in his already phenomenal career. Chris Johnson has put himself in position to take a run at the single-season rushing record with a record number of ridiculously long TD runs. Despite all of these things that should be dominating our NFL-related conversations, Chris Henry’s terrible accident is going to take precedent for the next couple of weeks. The saddest part of all of this is that for the next few months, this season will be remembered for Henry’s death. Players will say that they’ve learned a lesson in Henry’s catastrophe and that his misfortune has given them a new perspective on their lives. There will be stories about the impact that Henry’s death will have on the league moving forward. Then, something will change. People will start to forget. This season will eventually be remembered for all of the things that I mentioned before, because ultimately, the NFL is about on-the-field stuff. Players will go back to doing things the way they used to, and Henry’s death will have been in vain. Don’t believe me? When was the last time you heard about the 1963 NFL season being marred by the gambling scandal involving two players? Do you even know who those players were? Would you be surprised if I said they were Hall of Famer Paul Hornung and former star of the TV show Webster Alex Karras? Both players were suspended for one season, and both guys went on to be relatively unharmed by the incident. In fact, Kentucky’s high school football player of the year award is still called the Paul Hornung Award. This entire incident has been completely forgotten by the vast majority of the population. Henry’s incident will end up dispersing into thin air the way other mistakes of the past have. That’s just the way these things play out over time.

There is one person who I pray learns a lifelong lesson from Henry’s tragedy. Pacman Jones was a teammate of Henry’s at West Virginia. Jones is a young man whose life has taken a path similar to that of Henry’s. Pacman’s issues have become so cumbersome that he is not playing in the NFL this season despite having no pending suspensions or no existing injuries to preclude his participation. The 32 NFL teams have simply decided that his antics and troublesome tendencies are too much to tolerate. When the NFL decides you’re too much trouble to employ, regardless of your world class skills, it should be a wake-up call of epic proportions. If, somehow, Jones has found a way to ignore such a slap in the face, Henry’s death should act as the ultimate display of how his life could wind up if he doesn’t change his ways. Henry’s death doesn’t have to become a largely insignificant footnote during an historic NFL season. It can have a lasting impression on the life of another trouble young man who was given too much, too soon and has proven incapable of handling it. “Pacman” can become ‘Adam’ again and be a fully functioning member of the NFL community if he commits himself to rebuilding his life. Let’s all hope he takes this tragedy and uses it to reevaluate his situation so none of us have to go through losing another athlete in this most horrific of ways.

Personally, I’d like to extend my deepest sympathies to those who were close to Chris Henry. Let's hope Chris' legacy is that of inspiring change in the life of others and not for squandering the potential of his.