Chris Henry's Life, Career, Heeds a Warning To Aspiring Athletes

Chris Henry was known more throughout his career for plays he made off the field instead of the plays he made on the gridiron.

His death was tragic, yet his career seems to be the real tragedy. He was a man who just couldn't seem to get his life on track while playing in the NFL, a man whose reputation followed him like a shadow, a man whose college coach (Rich Rodriguez) once called an embarrassment to himself.

Since 2005, Henry was arrested five times. His most recent arrest led to his dismissal from the Cincinnati Bengals. However, Mike Brown saw Henry as a misguided man, one who could be a productive player and citizen.

Henry came into the 2009 season a better man, a more mature man at that. He realized that his talent would only blossom when he realized the opportunities he had been throwing away since joining the Bengals. He seized every chance he was given this season, and was dealt a crushing blow, breaking his arm halfway through the year.

Henry's tragic death has shattered the Nation Football League, but mainly the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals have rallied and dedicated their season to Henry, as well as defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer's wife, Vikki, who passed away early in the season.

The price Henry paid was tremendous; however, many athletes need to take his death and career as a warning. To his peers he was a great man, but to those outside the locker room, they viewed him as a thug and a criminal.

Henry did not understand how to be a professional athlete for most of his short career; he spent a portion of his career watching the game due to suspensions instead of running routes. His suspensions and arrests were for acts that were easily avoidable and situations no professional should put themselves in. In reality, Henry was a kid, that is until his career flashed before his eyes when he was released.

Any young person who aspires to be a professional athlete needs to realize what a gift that profession is. To professionals, they are playing a game they love, playing that game on the grandest stage, and becoming extremely wealthy in the process—could there be a job with a better description?

Of course many athletes struggle with the pressure to perform under the bright lights, but athletes, current and future, need to realize that what they do off the field is just as important as what they do on the field.

The public is always watching, they are always judging, and it is time that professionals start to act like they realize how blessed they are. They are playing a game! Kids look up to them for their play on the field and they emulate their actions off of it.

Many athletes do a great job and realize what they have. However, you rarely hear about an athlete who donates money to a charity, or, in fact, starts their own charity. This is because it is almost expected of them. Unfortunately, the public fixates on those professional athletes who struggle to maintain the balance of life on and off the playing field.

In the summer of 2009, Chris Henry saw his short career flash before his eyes, he saw where he could have ended up following football, and he decided that wasn't in his best interest. He was lucky enough to get another "second" chance, and he took full advantage of it.

In his death, we need not focus on his poor decisions, but the turn he was making to become a better professional, as well as a better family man. His drastic change should heed warning to future athletes, and those who are currently wasting their careers away, that to be successful, you must embrace your talent and understand what it truly means to be a professional athlete in this day and age.

Chris Henry will be missed, may he rest in peace.