Chris Henry's Dark Road **Updated

      Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry experienced what is being called "very serious" injuries today in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Police have indicated that Henry jumped into the bed of a pick up truck that was being driven by his fiancee Loleini Tonga after a dispute.  Henry was found a half mile from Tonga's parents house on the ground with what KY Post have indicated are "life threatening head injuries."  At this point the hospital and police have not disclosed any further information, but some reports have indicated that it doesn't look good for Henry to survive this accident.  Moreover, Henry was just last month placed on injured reserve by Cincinnati after breaking his left forearm against the Baltimore Ravens in week 8.  He later had season ending surgery after going through half an NFL season in which his production on the field was well below his expectations.  Nonetheless, the Bengals have flourished this season, as they're off to their best start in years and lead the AFC North by 2 games with 3 to play.

       Overall, Henry has been somewhat of a feel good story lately since he was brought back to the team after initially being let go from the Bengals because of his 5th arrest back in 2007....whoa!  Chris has stayed out of trouble for over a year now, and has indicated that his fiancee Loleini is the reason behind that turnaround.  Ironically, it appears that in this case Tonga may have ultimately caused the demise of his football career and quite possibly his life.  There's no doubt that Henry never reached his full potential after being considered a top prospect out of the highly touted West Virginia program, and it's doubtful after this car accident that Henry will ever play again.  We must all keep him in our prayers as he struggles to overcome these unfortunate events; I can only hope that the reports we've all recieved thus far are overstating his injuries.

**An update to the post from last night.  Chris Henry, age 26, unfortunately, passed away this morning due to the injuries he sustained in the above mentioned incident from yesterday afternoon.  Even though I'm sure most of us were sick of hearing of all the issues and run-ins with the law that Chris Henry went through over the last 5 years.  I'm also sure that any person out there, whether they follow football or not, would have loved to read or hear about a story down the road in which a young man turned his life around and became one of the best wide receivers in the game, maybe even a role model at some point.  However, Henry didn't live long enough in order for any of us to see his transformation.  Most people believe that no sports relationships are closer than the one between a quarterback and his wide receiver.  Therefore, I take the words of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer to say a lot about how Chris Henry was actually making an effort to become the best man and wide receiver he could.  According to Palmer, Henry had a great offseason and had "really turned his life around."  Palmer and fellow coaches had seen a glimpse this year of what could be expected for years to come in Cincinnati, nonetheless, it is ironic that today Chris Henry's life was so tragically taken away.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the Henry family on this day.