Chris Henry 1983-2009

What a waste.

That's all that keeps coming to mind when I think about Chris Henry's passing earlier today. What a waste. A young man who had been through so much adversity – most, by his own admission, a direct result of his own actions – finally seemed to have his life on track. After numerous and highly publicized legal issues, Henry distanced himself from people whom he considered to be negative influences, and managed to keep his nose clean ever since being re-signed by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2008. He had a beautiful fiancée, three beautiful children, and was being paid millions of dollars to play a game most American men would gladly play for free.

Chris Henry had all of the tools to be one of the elite wide receivers in the NFL. Unfortunately, his many bad decisions coupled with some equally bad luck kept him from ever reaching his on-field potential. Still, even after nearly five years of frustration with the oft-injured and troubled receiver, Bengals fans like myself couldn't help but be excited for the day when a healthy and mature Chris Henry suited up in tiger stripes on Sundays. Now, we'll never know just how good he would've been.

As disappointing as the loss of a talented young athlete is, a wasted football career is trivial when one considers the three children Henry leaves behind. His three small children are now forced to grow up without their father. They won't get to cheer as their dad scores touchdowns on Sundays. No, instead this Sunday they will be planning to bury their father, at 26 years old.

I don't currently know all of the details surrounding Mr. Henry's death, and for me to speculate here would be in very poor taste. Whatever transpired Wednesday afternoon, it appears his death was the unfortunate outcome of one last poor decision in a life which was regrettably fraught with them. A tragic, but not altogether unexpected end for a young man whose brief life was so frustratingly defined by what if.

In the end I think Mr. Henry's life can accurately be summed up by a single play. Back in a 2005 playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Henry caught a 66 yard pass on the Bengals first offensive snap – and seriously injured his knee on the very same play. That was Chris Henry in a nutshell; A brilliant flash of potential, followed by bitter misfortune and disappointment.  Regardless of whatever is ultimately written upon Chris Henry's tombstone, I can think of no epitaph more fitting than “What might have been.”