It’s business as usual in the National Football League today. There’s a Thursday Night game on NFL Network to kick off Week 15 of this 2009 season. And the daily happenings of an in-season NFL week are still quite the norm. But a dark cloud hangs over the league and more specifically the Cincinnati Bengals today. One of their own—yes the Bengals and the entire NFL—is no longer with us. Receiver Chris Henry passed away this morning after suffering injuries from an auto accident yesterday. And he will be greatly missed.

Chris Henry, Cincinnati Bengals / Photo: Newscom

Prior to this season, Chris was known more for getting in trouble than he was his football skills—which were outstanding, obviously. You don’t make it this far without playing outstanding football. But after four arrests and three NFL suspensions, it didn’t seem like this talented but troubled kid from West Virginia was ever gonna get it. It took some time, but Chris did pull himself together. In August of 2008, the Bengals brought Chris back to the team and he turned his life around and set himself on a path to where he’d become the kind of person he knew he could be. And the kind of person the NFL and the Cincinnati Bengals hoped he would be.

That’s why it’s especially difficult to make sense of this tragedy. It seemed like Chris was given one more chance and he took that chance and turned it into a success story. Whatever circumstances led to the incident yesterday are not known yet. But one thing that is certain—Chris touched a lot of lives in a positive way and will be fondly remembered as someone who has been described as a kind-hearted, caring teammate and friend.

Source: Bengals.com

To follow up my post from yesterday, Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry died this morning from injuries suffered in a pickup truck accident in Charlotte, NC. According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, Chris fell out of the back of a pickup truck driven by his fiancée, Loleini Tonga, and was on life support overnight. Police and homicide detectives are still investigating what is being called a domestic incident involving Chris and his fiancée.
Bengals owner Mike Brown made the following statement at a morning presser:
“We were notified an hour ago that Chris Henry died in Charlotte at 6:30 this morning. He was good at what …read more

Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry apparently suffered life-threatening injuries in a pickup truck accident in Charlotte, N.C. today. He is believed to be in critical condition on a life support system in Charlotte. It seems as though Chris fell out of the back of a pickup truck driven by his fiancée after what is being described by police as a domestic dispute.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a statement today that Chris jumped into the back of the truck as his fiancée, Loleini Tonga, drove away. He was later found on a residential street in Charlotte. Police added:
“The domestic situation continued between …read more

For those of you who were concerned (as I was) when Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald had his right lower leg neatly folded and pressed against his upper leg on the third play of the 3rd quarter of a 24-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers last night, there’s good news. Larry hobbled off the field and into the locker room before later returning to the game. But he’s no worse for the wear today as he assured his team and his fans that he would be on the practice field this week in preparation for a game against the …read more

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees—with 1,120,535 votes—leads all NFL All-Stars in balloting for the 2010 Pro Bowl. Voting will continue on NFL.com/probowl and on web-enabled mobile phones by going to NFL.com through Monday, December 21. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre (1,120,174 votes) ranks second overall, while Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning (1,113,934 votes), Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (1,079,993 votes) and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (684,698 votes) round out the top five.
Balloting for the 2010 Pro Bowl will conclude on Monday, December 21 following the conclusion of Monday Night Football (New York Giants at Washington Redskins, …read more

The last thing the Dallas Cowboys need in the midst of yet another dismal December downfall is the loss of a key player. But that’s exactly what happened during yesterday’s 20-17 loss to the San Diego Chargers. Cowboys three-time All-Pro defensive end DeMarcus Ware strained his neck during a 4th quarter collision with a Chargers’ player and was carted from the field in a departure that looked a lot worse than it was. The Cowboys wisely erred on the side of caution yesterday. But to what extent they’ll do the same this week remains to be seen.
DeMarcus spent some time …read more

I guess the Indianapolis Colts decided they weren’t going to cover Denver Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall today. Brandon set an NFL record with 21 receptions (for 200 yards with two touchdowns) —beating the previous record of 20 catches held for almost nine years to the day by Buffalo Bills (then with San Francisco) receiver Terrell Owens. Unfortunately for Brandon and the Broncos, they lost the game 28-16 as the Colts remained undefeated at 13-0.
Because of the loss, Brandon’s happiness was held to a minimum after the game:
“I believe it was one of those games where, whenever you accomplish something like …read more

Make no mistake, Josh Cribbs is being paid to play football for the Cleveland Browns. He’s just not being paid enough. And he has no long-term security with the Browns. And that’s a big mistake for a team that desperately needs more players like him. On NFL Network’s presentation of Thursday Night Football last night, Josh tore up the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers for 200 all-purpose yards in a 13-6 win.

Josh kept all things contractual in-check afterward:
“Cleveland’s a blue collar city. The last thing this city wants is a player talking about money and running around and …read more

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick runs a tight ship. He’s a disciplinarian. That’s been his reputation throughout his career. And don’t think that just because the Pats are 7-5 and losers of two straight games that things are any different in Foxborough this season. In fact, he may be ramping up the urgency for attention to detail and commitment even more.
Today, coach Belichick sent four players home because they were late arriving to practice. One of those players was receiver Randy Moss. Of course, many people look at Randy’s behavior as an early sign of defiance because he …read more

Two weeks ago, Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl defensive back Antoine Winfield said he was not only completely healthy and ready to play, but that he had “no issues” with the foot he injured way back in Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens. But Antoine has been inactive for every game since the injury and according to Vikings head coach Brad Childress, one of the team’s defensive leaders is merely “closer” to playing this week against the Cincinnati Bengals. In fact, coach Childress didn’t sound very optimistic that Antoine might suit up for this important game.
So what gives? If Antoine says …read more