Chris Henry Is Dead In Truck Accident Report
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| Chris Henry |
Henry was involved in a string of legal troubles during his professional career, which include several arrests for such offenses as driving under the influence, marijuana possession, assault, and criminal damage. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2008 season.
Indeed, his multiple arrests during a five-year NFL career were among the factors prompting the league to toughen its personal conduct policy.
But to hear his teammates tell it -- even the team's owner -- the Bengals receiver was determined to leave behind his troubled past and move ahead toward a bright future.
Tragically, his efforts were cut short.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said the 26-year-old Henry died early Thursday, less than 18 hours after he fell off the back of a pickup truck on a curvy residential street about eight miles northwest of downtown Charlotte.
The cause of death was not immediately released.
Neighbor Lee Hardy told WLWT-TV and The Cincinnati Enquirer that he was working in his yard when the truck left the driveway. Hardy said Henry was yelling that he needed to talk to the woman behind the wheel.
"He said, 'If you take off, I'm going to jump off the truck and kill myself,'" Hardy told the newspaper.
The first 911 tape was from an unidentified woman who said she was following a yellow pickup truck.
"It's got a black man on it with no shirt on, and he's got his arm in a cast and black pants on," she told a dispatcher. "He's beating on the back of this truck window. ... I don't know if he's trying to break in or something. It just looks crazy. It's a girl driving it."
He was ejected from a game and suspended for another at West Virginia, where former coach Rich Rodriguez told Henry that he was an embarrassment to himself and the program. His reputation was already costing him - the Bengals were the only NFL team to bring him in for a pre-draft visit in 2005.
They found that his demeanor didn't match his reputation. Henry was shy and spoke in a quiet voice. They warned him that he had to stay in control if he was going to stay in the NFL. Then, they picked him in the third round.
In a sense, it was already a second chance.
"I'm worth the chance," Henry said, when he showed up the following weekend for a rookie minicamp. "I'm just happy they took me."
He was 26 when he lost his life this morning. Just 26 years old. For as many headlines as he had made, it seemed like he should be older. The fact was, though, that he was still a very young man. He was just entering his football prime, and considering his natural gifts and the signs he had been showing before being put on injured reserve this year, he could have gone on to have a great career.
That's the tragedy here. If things had continued to go the way he and his teammates said they were headed, Chris Henry could have one day stood in front of the world as an example that no matter what you've done in the past, your future can be better. He could have told the at-risk youth of the world, "Yes, it can be difficult to change the direction of your life, but it can be done, and you have the power to do it. I did it, and you can do it."
What a great thing that could've been. Sooner or later, we're all going to let somebody down. But life is about how you learn from your mistakes and how you use the experience to make yourself a better, stronger person.
"The domestic situation continued between the operator and Mr. Henry," according to a police statement. Henry "came out of the back of the vehicle" about half a mile from the house, it said.
Henry was a native of Belle Chasse, Louisiana, according to the Bengals' Web site. He and his fiancée, Loleini Tonga, had planned to be married in March, the team said. Henry leaves three children -- two sons and a daughter, the team said.
Tonga's family lives in Charlotte. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said he told players of Henry's death, speaking to them a couple of times Thursday. He declined to tell reporters what was said.
Video: Bengals react to player's death
"That's between us," Lewis said.
Other Sources Says -
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have said that a domestic dispute lead to the fatal injuries Henry sustained when he fell off a moving pickup driven by Loleini Tonga Wednesday.
Tonga's neighbor, Lee Hardy, was perched on a 15-foot ladder cutting back some trees when he saw the yellow pickup "zooming" up the Tongas' gravel driveway just a few yards away. Hardy said a shirtless black man clung to the top and side of the truck while standing in the bed, begging her to stop the vehicle.
"He was banging on the top, on the doors, screaming at the lady, 'We need to talk,'" Hardy said. "He said, 'If you take off, I'm going to jump off the truck and kill myself.'"
Hardy said she stopped, hesitating at the end of the driveway, and took off.
Soon afterward, authorities received two calls alerting them of the incident, which ended just a half-mile from Tonga's family home. Police say she stopped immediately after he fell from the truck.
n the early morning of Monday September 25, 2006 Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman was pulled over for a DUI.
The truck Thurman was driving belonged to Rookie Reggie McNeal, who was a passenger along with Chris Henry. Neither McNeal nor Chris Henry were charged with any wrongdoing by authorities, however, Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis benched Henry for the Bengals loss against the New England Patriots. On October 6, 2006 The NFL suspended Henry for two games for violating the league's personal conduct and substance abuse policies. NFL policies forbid Henry from taking part in practices, however, he was allowed to attend any team meetings. Henry missed the Bengals' Oct. 15 game at Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their Oct. 22 game against the Carolina Panthers.
On January 25, 2007, Henry pleaded guilty to charges of providing alcohol to minors, an incident that occurred at a hotel in the spring on 2006. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with all but two of those days being suspended.
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