Of course its silly. I wrote it right after I took a nap in my hyperbolic chamber.
Anyway…I agree that jumping into the bed of a pickup like he did was stupid, regardless of the reasons. I would never have done something like that and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else.
The only point I’m taking umbrage with is the assumption being made that based on his past, he was in the process of violently attacking his fiancee and that she was fleeing for that reason. Sure, that’s possible, but so are other scenarios too.
I was never a big fan of the guy, but once he died, and the people that knew him best (the players and coaches of the Bengals organization) continued to reiterate that the real tragedy here is that Chris was on the road to redemption as a man, a father a player and a person that I tend to believe them. Shit, even uber-conservative Mike Brown, owner of the Bengals spoke on his behalf at a press conference and he detests the media and only speaks to them once a year.
I understand that the organization isn’t going to bad mouth him in the wake of his death, so I’m not being completely naive here, but I also have followed the team closely enough to know that this “turning around” of Chris Henry’s life didn’t just start yesterday…its been an ongoing process since last Summer when he finally realized what was at stake. And now he’s dead due to his own actions before the process was complete, and to me that is the tragedy. That and his fatherless children.
Christ. What’s that saying again? “If you can’t say something nice…”
The whole facts are not in at the moment, but we do know that a fiance and three kids are without him now. How about kicking his corpse after we get a chance to get over the shock and tragedy?
There’s nothing unusual about speaking about the positive aspects of a person when they’ve passed away. In fact, I call it humanity. Time has shown that people like John F. Kennedy, Bing Crosby weren’t exactly saints, but it didn’t make people negate the positives in their lives after their passing.
BTW, I am not a Bengals fan, and I know of Chris Henry from his hijinks a few years back. But in comparison to Pacman Jones, he seemed to be getting his act together. I didn’t hear anyone talk about him on ESPN or any other outlets as if he was a perfect person.
It’s one thing for his team to say nice things about him but it’s another to launch into a jersey-number honorarium after a senseless and potentially violent act on his part. Had he succeeded in busting the window this could have been a two-fur fatality with a basket of orphans thrown in.
While Chris Henry may have been on the right track to reaching adulthood the reality of it is that he was still a man-child who did something so recklessly stupid and aggressive that it demands public admonition and not admiration. Save the parades for people who deserve them and not for people who might deserve them if they ever get their act together.
That’s pretty much where I come down on this. I was disappointed to hear that the Bengals had re-signed him, but by all accounts (before the incident) he had gotten his shit together and shed some his bad influences.
People like to hop up on their soapboxes and complain about thug athletes, but the truth is it’s a surprise when a kid who grows up with nothing and is given everything doesn’t make a hash of it.
This phenomenon is not limited to black football players; there’s a show on A&E or E! or one of those other channels in the 40-60 range on cable about people whose lives are ruined when they win the lottery.
In any case, people do a lot of dumb things when they’re in love.
Do I think it’s a little odd that ESPN is rushing to canonize him? Of course. Do I blame the Bengals for wanting to paint him in the most positive light? Not at all.
Well, I’m very pleased that you’ve never behaved irrationally or done something really stupid. But I certainly have, and only by the grace of God I’m here to reflect upon it. Furthermore, we don’t know the circumstances of how he ended up in the truck. I admit it looks bad and he may indeed have been trying to break the window. But we don’t know.
What exactly should be done? “Shame Chris Henry Day?” I don’t think anyone is mistaking this young man for a saint. Every media outlet has reported on the circumstances of his death. Nobody has glossed over the drama surrounding his first few years in the NFL. If his teammates want to honor him, how is it any skin off your nose? I suspect they know the nuances of Chris Henry far better than any of us ever will.
We got to see all the missteps in Chris Henry’s life because he was in the public eye. But he’s no different than a lot of Joes out there who punch a clock and do tons of stupid things. It doesn’t make their loss of life any less sad, because none of us are only our best deeds or our worst. We’re a mix.
Oh, thanks, 'Evil. This reminds me a lot of Sean Taylor’s death. Everyone assumed the worst, but it turns out that the guy was just trying to defend his wife and kid from a home invader. Certainly this doesn’t look the same, but it should have taught us something about rushing to judgment.
I’m with you here. I certainly didn’t wish him ill, and I do feel badly for his children, but this guy had some serious problems. Jumping into the bed of a moving truck is not something you do if your head is screwed on straight.
Children do stupid things. Chris was a grown man with responsibilities but he behaved as a child.
There is no way to spin his behavior that looks good. Ignoring his crazy behavior he tried to force a confrontation with someone who was trying to get away from him.
It’s not what should be done, it’s what shouldn’t be done. turning his number into an honorarium is not called for. The skin on my nose is the elevation of athletes above what is expected of adults and that is what his team is doing.
Why does this turn of phrase remind me of that Chris Rock routine about “Niggas versus black people”?
To wit:
**You want to know the worst thing about niggaz? The worst thing? Niggaz is always taking credit for some shit a normal man just does. Niggaz will say some shit like “Shoot, I take care of my kids!”
You’re supposed to take care of your fucking kids! What kind of ignorant shit is that?
“Shoot, I ain’t never been to jail”
What you want, a fucking cookie? You’re not supposed to go to jail, you low-expectation-having motherfucker!**
I don’t hold it against the Bengals, or anyone else, that they are feeling a lot of pain and missing a friend who they lost suddenly. And I’m sorry for Henry’s family. And he didn’t deserve to die regardless. The guy had plenty of problems and it may be true he was overcoming his own failings. (That storyline may be getting oversold.) The facts are not all in at this point, but it sure sounds like his fiancee was feeling threatened by him and trying to get away in a big hurry. I know if someone was hanging off the back of my car and I didn’t want that person to die, I’d stop immediately. Maybe it’s not what it looks like. We’ll see.
grow up with nothing, and then get successful.
plus
win the lottery
plus
fall in love.
equals:
jump on the back of moving trucks and commit suicide/manslaughter
???
let’s face it—responsible adults raising a family together might have a fight. They might get angry and slam doors, or storm out of the house.
But when you drive away in a pickup with another human being exposed to danger on the open truck bed then BOTH the driver and the passenger are no longer responsible adults. They BOTH are engaging in dangerous, reckless behavior, and are not responsible enough to raise children.
When a pro-football player jumps into the back of a truck of a woman trying to get away from him and then acts batshit crazy it’s not her fault, it’s his. ALL OF IT.
How do we know she wasn’t the one acting batshit crazy? What if she told him she was going to drive the truck off a bridge and kill herself and he was trying to stop her because he loved her? We do not and can not know. Lots of people do crazy shit when they are emotional.
Anyway, I’m not trying to put this guy up on some kind of a pedestal or anything, I’m just said he died because the people that knew him best are all to a man saying he was doing all the right things to get himself back on track. Sure, to many of us this is a simple thing, and something everyone should just do without getting credit for it (which was the point my vulgar Chris Rock quote was trying to illustrate, badly, apparently), but at the end of the day, there’s three kids without a Dad, a woman without a husband, a team without a player, and a fresh corpse in Louisiana.
I also agree that what he did was stupid and by all appearances suggests to an outside POV with knowledge a priori of his record of misdemeanors that he wasn’t in fact trying to better himself.
I suppose nobody will ever know. To me, that isn’t even important anymore. He’s dead, he made mistakes, he at least was trying to redeem himself, and now he’s just gone.
Bullshit. If there were enough people to call 9-1-1, there were enough people to help her if she pulled the truck over and he actually did something violent. No excuse for swerving to try to throw him, as reports are claiming she did.
Henry is 6 ft 4 and ripped. I really don’t think many people are going to jump in and help. Calling 911 is one thing but getting involved is a whole different world.
Well, as sad as this is, this guy had many “second chances” and could not get himself straight; here’s hoping he provided something to help his three children, who will need all the help that is available.
We know she wasn’t acting crazy because it wasn’t reported. What WAS reported was that HE threatened suicide before jumping into the truck. What WAS reported is that HE was beating on the window of the truck. Batshit crazy meets stupid and dies.
The veracity of the tree-trimmer’s report of hearing Henry claim that he’d “kill himself if she didn’t stop” is being called into question. Especially since dude was operating tree-trimming equipment at the time he allegedly overheard this snippet.
And yeah, he was reported as banging on the split window and top of the cab of the truck. Stupid? Yes! Does that mean he is beyond redemption by any applicable standard because he made an obviously emotional and by all accounts stupid decision? No.
If the answer is yes, then there’s no point in attempting to pretend that real convicted felons in prison ever deserve another shot at life.
Anyway, I can’t argue this anymore. Its over, as is his life, for better or ill.