There is no definite link between multiple concussions and the sort of progressive, trauma-induced brain damage found this week in late Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry. And that only makes it worse.
1. Doug Glanville, New York Times op-ed columnist: The most illuminating piece of writing on Tiger Woods last month came from a man once traded for Mickey Morandini:
Carson Palmer sees the numbers. The passing yards fly by as if on magic carpets. The standard notions of how to win in the NFL -- run, stop the run -- are leather helmets now. Ten quarterbacks threw for more than 4,000 yards. Thirty-two QBs combined for 104 300-yard passing games. Who went for 300 in a game this year? Who didn't?
SAN DIEGO -- Wide receiver Chad Ochocinco did not dress in his locker stall after the Bengals' heartbreaking 27-24 loss to the Chargers late Sunday afternoon in Qualcomm Stadium. Instead, he slipped into his loose-fitting blue jeans and oversized white T-shirt in the stall next to his, the one with "No. 15" handwritten on a white nameplate above it.
The irony, of course, is that on the field it has been a rare season of victory in Cincinnati, with renewed hopes, playoff dreams and so much good news all around for coach Marvin Lewis's young, first-place team.
It seems cold to write about football and the Cincinnati Bengals, what with just one day passing since the death of wide receiver Chris Henry. Three children will grow up without a father. A life on the way to being better-lived was ended.
CINCINNATI -- Chris Henry could run 40 yards in 4.3 seconds. Problem was, trouble ran a 4.2. Henry was the face of the Bad Boy Bengals, even when that gaze no longer belonged to the team, or to him. In 2009, Henry was a reformed man, living his second chance to the fullest.
Cincinnati Bengals football player Chris Henry died after he fell from the bed of a moving pickup truck during a fight with his fiancée, police said Thursday.
Cincinnati Bengals player Chris Henry dies after a fall from a truck.
The Cincinnati Bengals receiver had fallen from a truck in a domestic dispute, police say
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Prosecutors dropped an assault charge against former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry on Monday, clearing the way for him to apply for reinstatement by the National Football League.
I'm not sure what exactly has kept the dots from being connected yet in terms of the media or the public's collective attention spans, but has anyone out there noticed that the NFL's personal conduct problems are back with a vengeance this offseason?
• The release of problematic receiver Chris Henry signifies a dramatic shift in the philosophy of the Cincinnati Bengals. After building a respectable team by assembling several talented, but troubled players (Henry, Frostee Rucker and Odell Thurman), the Bengals have started to rid their locker room of the character risks that helped the team climb from the doldrums. Marvin Lewis appears to have grown weary of dealing with the constant media scrutiny and headaches associated with having so many character problems on the team. "He is attempting to take back the locker room, but you wonder if it is too late," said an NFC executive. "He should've parted ways with his bad apples a long time ago."
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