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Injuries will make you do funny things. Such as sign Chris Henry.
With Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Andre Caldwell banged up, the Bengals have signed a player they cast away not that long ago. They either are convinced that Henry has cleaned up his act or that they could use some warm bodies quickly.
It must be noted that the most recent charges — hard to keep track of them all — against Henry were dropped, the ones stemming from a March assault case. Henry, for all we know, could be making serious progress in his life and cleaning things up. Let’s hope so.
There are countless stories of players gone awry who have turned their lives around in short order. Pacman Jones has behaved in Dallas. Tank Johnson, too. Albert Haynesworth isn’t letting his foot-stomping incident from two years ago define him. And we’re already talking about Michael Vick playing football again in 2009.
But Henry is different from most of these guys in that he is a repeat offender. So many times so, in fact, that it’s almost impossible to sum up his rap sheet. Not counting the incidents he had at West Virginia, Henry has been involved in no fewer than eight issues with the law. And even though a lot of those charges were dropped, the fact that he was involved in so many bad things has raised serious suspicion about his character.
The Bengals are taking a huge risk in bringing Henry aboard again, because they know they will have to sever ties with him again if anything happens. Speeding ticket, jaywalking … if Henry isn’t on strike 2½, then the Bengals just aren’t on the same page as Roger Goodell.
The commissioner has made it clear that a continued pattern of behavior far less serious than what Henry has done is not going to fly in this league, and if you count the eight games he already has been suspended plus the four more he faces to start this season, that’s nearly a whole year of service lost. And the next step clearly is expulsion.
Even if Henry doesn’t do a single thing that deserves that harsh a punishment, he has built up enough bad cred around the league that it probably would warrant a lifetime ban.
No one knows this more than the Bengals. They have seen this pattern, and they know what they are getting. Clearly, someone is going to bat for Henry. Is it Marvin Lewis? Is it Mike Brown? Bob Bratkowski? WR coach Mike Sheppard?
Or perhaps they are just desperate.
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WR Chris Henry
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Henry is a talent, no question, and I have heard people who have been around him stick up for him. They said he was stuck in a bad crowd at one point in his life and that he needed the right guidance. Maybe the Bengals think they can steer him clear of his past problems. But maybe they just need help. Henry can’t play for four games, but he can practice and play in preseason games. He knows this system well and was, hands down, the best wideout on the open market.
You also have to consider that Johnson may be seriously hurt. I watched the play where he injured his shoulder, and I have seen guys suffer serious separations from lesser falls. But even if Johnson is out for a few weeks, is getting Henry going to be worth it?
At this point, perhaps only he knows. He sounded like a player who was serious about making big changes in his life when he told ESPN.com this offseason, “I’m just focusing on what I need to be doing off the field so I can keep doing what I do on the field. I just have to be smart and handle myself like a professional at all times. Off the field, if I’ll handle situations like I’m supposed to, everything else will take care of itself.”
Henry likely was about as down and out as you can be when his house was foreclosed on and later vandalized, and also when his SUV was repossessed. He couldn’t have felt good about his situation either when he couldn’t afford a lawyer for the most recent case. And although the four-game suspension actually could be reduced or rescinded — league officials have yet to rule on the case — Henry clearly is desperate for money.
A job in the NFL will give him the financial security he needs, but that now will become the least of his concerns, even if the suspension stays. He will have to win back a lot of people — the Bengals, their fans and, certainly, Goodell.
Hopefully, this story has a better ending. Getting back into the league is a very small first step. He has miles to go before he can safely say he’s back in the good graces of the league as a whole. And although it’s likely there’s more to this whole thing than we know yet, the Bengals' re-signing of a player whom they cut not that long ago and who has caused such recent and raw scars wreaks as such a dangerous and desperate move.
Beware the desperate team. Or worse yet, the desperate player. The Bengals know what they are getting into here.
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