Channing Crowder Had No Right Calling out Miami Dolphins QB Chad Henne

Channing Crowder, the recently-retired Miami Dolphins linebacker with a fondness for speaking his mind, has turned his critical eye to his former quarterback, Chad Henne.

In an interview with Joe Rose of WQAM, Crowder comprehensively shredded his former quarterback, stating that Henne "hasn’t really proven anything."

He went on to say:

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“So he can get on, he has all the tangibles, I want to say, the arm strength, his feetwork’s funny, but [with the] arm strength he has, you know he can make some good throws, but the intangibles, the winning the game, the wanting to have everything on his shoulders, like the Bradys and like the Mannings, and wanting to have, be down by five with a minute left on the 20-yard line, let’s see what happens, he doesn’t have that in his heart yet, and I think it will be hard for him to win."

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Criticism of Henne is nothing new, and the quarterback has tried to take it in stride, saying that it comes with the position. However, Crowder's comments are the first instance of a teammate slamming not only his skills, but also his passion for the game.

One look at Henne's college career proves that, not only can Henne play quality football, but that he can provide the necessary leadership to engineer clutch drives. While there is a marked difference between the college and pro games, the transition from the former to the latter generally entails an increase in tenacity and heart rather than it fading away.

While Henne's professional career has not matched the success he experienced at Michigan, he is not completely to blame. Inconsistency has plagued the Dolphins' offense since before Henne was drafted, and it would have continued regardless of who was taking the snaps under center.

His rookie year was one of the most successful for the Dolphins in the last 10 years (mostly attributable to Bill Parcells' role as executive vice president of football operations), but that year he sat on the bench, learning behind veteran starter Chad Pennington.

Once Henne was given the offense, it was without Parcells in charge, and the entire team devolved into chaos. Chaos that included Channing Crowder.

How it serves Crowder to take these shots at his former quarterback is unclear. While he speaks on the radio about Henne's lack of heart, lack of drive and lack of effort, he chose to retire instead of work with Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland.

Instead of working to improve the Dolphins' defense with his teammates, to take some pressure off of his quarterback, he decided to leave his entire team behind. Now his comments only serve to isolate him from his former teammates and coach Tony Sparano, whom he supposedly "loved" to play for.

Why on Earth Crowder felt it was necessary to make these comments about Henne is unknown. I suppose it is lucky for him that he gets to drop this grenade into their locker room from afar, able to walk away unscathed.