Henry Signing Sad But Expected

by Galaxy CDS on Aug 19, 2008 9:52 AM EDT Comment 10 comments

This is both shocking and yet unsurprising at the same time. After reading Lewis' comments earlier you can't help but be shocked that Henry is actually coming back. Yet hearing Mike Brown, and watching our offense struggle and take on injuries at that position, is it really surprising?

The league is full of 'bad guys' I guess, at least Henry is 'our bad guy' seems to be the mindset. It's a slippery slope now though to losing control of that locker room. Like I mentioned in my post about Jeremi Johnson likely keeping his job, at some level, most likely ownership, this team does not understand that it takes "good guys not just good players" to be successful. The Bengals have a history of drafting and keeping troublemakers and malcontents, from Carl Pickens to Corey Dillon to the present day. Unlike winning franchises like New England or Indianapolis, there is a disconnect between the front office and the coaching staff about the type of players we should be fielding.

For the sake of Bengals fans I hope Henry has indeed learned his lesson, and that he can come back and be a productive player and a model citizen. But as a good friend of mine is fond of saying, the best predictor of future action is past behavior, so if I was a betting man I'd put my money on this ending badly for Henry, the team, and maybe at this point most importantly, Bengals fans everywhere.

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Marvin Lewis

Carve this in stone…

Marvin Lewis steps down as head coach by January of 2009. After this Henry debacle and what’s shaping up to be a 5-11 season this year, I think Marvin packs it in.

by JohnCockToastin on Aug 19, 2008 10:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ol' Henry.

Sharp as a knife. The name tells me he’s got the sense. The birthday says he aint matured yet. Hey Henry you better take care this year. Cinci is a workin mans town, so in Rome… You pickin up what im puttin’ down? If not I say trade ya for some linebackers or even some D-ends. Im pullin for ya , but make us proud lil’ bro!

by Ross da Boss on Aug 20, 2008 10:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Marv

Yeah , I hear ya. Marv is a helluva good coach. He’s brought us some great offensive talent. He needs to ged our D workin. Willie Anderson can teach da boys on D a lil’ sumpn bout WHITE, Strahan, B. Smith! Hey Marv! Have the VETS push this team forward! Have Willie teach dem Lines while he’s still got some game left!

by Ross da Boss on Aug 20, 2008 10:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Signing of Henry

With the return of good ol’ Mike putting himself back in the saddle again, does anyone think that this bodes well for Bengal’s land?

“Dave Shula” anyone?

by sao402 on Aug 19, 2008 11:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not true at all

The reason you don’t hear about trouble with new england players and Indy players is because WINNING CHANGES EVERYTHING. Just this past offseason there was a robbery with Marvin Harrisons gun and it was found on his property. He was implicated in the crime. Also, a Patriots lineman wore a wire to a drug bust because he was busted for buying a lot of drugs.

Yeah, real clean guys on those teams. It happens everywhere in the NFL. Tank and PacMan in dallas, know why it is not front page? They are superbowl contenders. When Henry catches the 4th quarter TD to seal the division championship no one will care how many times he has been arrested.

These are football players. We are not hiring him to watch our kids.

Who Dey

by whodeyfans on Aug 19, 2008 11:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yes but...

You’re correct, I’m sure you could go to every team and find instances of problems, the Love Boat scandal in Minnesota, drug suspensions, murder trials and so on. The two cases you mention have yet to lead to criminal indictments or league suspensions for the players involved however. They may yet, but as of this writing they have not. In the case of Henry you have multiple instances of both. And that fact in conjunction with the numerous other episodes of trouble from Thurman on presents a much bigger issue than one player having gone astray. It represents a systemic failure to pick and develop the right kind of guys. Something about the fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me would seem to me to apply here.

The bottom line really amounts to is Henry worth the risk, given his track record, versus say, is Harrison worth that risk given his track record? Both on and off the field. I don’t expect these players to be choir boys, but as Marvin has said, Henry can’t be a productive NFL player when his off field conduct results in him not being able to play all the time.

by Galaxy CDS on Aug 19, 2008 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Point taken..

by whodeyfans on Aug 19, 2008 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oops..

If Henry is off the field then his signing doesn’t help. I think the Bengals are a better team with Henry as the third WR.

I don’t look at Henry as a distraction or as a cancer in the locker room. When in pads Henry is a hard worker and a tough player. He improves this team and I welcome the signing.

by whodeyfans on Aug 19, 2008 1:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Strahan

Not to be rude boys, but… I think we have tons of O talent. I just think we could trade one aspect and get a whol schlew of hard hitting D. If we trade a big offensive name, is it possible to pull a big D vet like Strahan out of retirement?

by Ross da Boss on Aug 20, 2008 11:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs