Chris Henry

Chris Henry (May 17, 1983 – December 17, 2009) was an American football wide receiver who played five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Henry's 1,878 career receiving yards is eighth most in school history, while his 93 receptions are the 14th most.

His 22 touchdown receptions are also second most in school history.

Henry's six career 100-yard receiving games is tied for third most in school history.

Henry enrolled at West Virginia University in 2002, spending his first season as a redshirt.

In 2003, he earned Big East Conference freshman of the year and All-Big East second-team honors for catching 41 passes and gaining 1,006 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns.

He also became the second player in school history to record over 1,000 receiving yards in one season (behind David Saunders), and his 24.5 yards per reception are the third most in a season in school history.

Henry's best game was a career-high performance of 209 yards and two touchdowns against Syracuse.

His career-long reception came against Rutgers that season, an 83-yard reception.

In 2004, Henry started seven games and caught 52 passes for 872 yards with 12 touchdowns.

He played college football at West Virginia and was drafted by the Bengals in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft.

After catching three passes in a 30–18 loss to Florida State in the 2005 Gator Bowl, Henry announced that he would enter the 2005 NFL Draft.

During Henry's sophomore season, he was ejected from a game at Rutgers University due to multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and was suspended for the season finale against the University of Pittsburgh.

His former Mountaineers coach, Rich Rodriguez, stated that he was "an embarrassment to himself and the program" for his conduct.

Henry majored in athletic coaching education.

Henry was the third player in Mountaineers' history to average more than twenty yards per catch for his career.

Henry was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft.

He made his NFL debut on September 18, 2005, against the Minnesota Vikings.

In his rookie season with the Bengals, he amassed 31 receptions for 422 yards and six touchdowns.

In the Bengals' first playoff game in fifteen years against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he had a reception for 66 yards on the Bengals' second play from scrimmage.

However, on the play, both he and Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer had knee injuries.

In his second season, Henry totaled 605 yards on 36 receptions for nine touchdowns, with an average of 16.8 yards per catch.

In the second game of the season against the Cleveland Browns, Henry recorded five receptions for 113 yards, while he recorded two touchdowns the next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In the season finale against the Steelers, Henry totaled 124 yards off of four receptions and scored one touchdown.

Henry was suspended for eight games in 2007 for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.

He returned in week 10 against the Baltimore Ravens, where he had four receptions for 99 yards.

In the following loss to Arizona, Henry totaled eight receptions for 81 yards and one touchdown.

Henry finished the season with 21 receptions for 343 yards and two touchdowns.

Henry and Jones were teammates at West Virginia, and both served NFL suspensions imposed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell during the 2007 NFL season.

Following his arrest in April 2008, Henry was waived by the Bengals.

President Mike Brown explained that Henry had forfeited his opportunity to pursue a career with the Bengals and that his conduct could no longer be tolerated.

On April 7, 2008, ESPN radio analyst and former player Michael Irvin said he took a phone call from Henry, discussing "cleaning up his act", much like Irvin encouraged Adam "Pacman" Jones to do.

With Bengals receivers Chad Ochocinco, T. J. Houshmandzadeh, and Andre Caldwell nursing injuries during the 2008 preseason, Henry was re-signed to a two-year contract by the Bengals on August 18.

Henry died on December 17, 2009, when he was dragged from a moving truck that his fiancée was driving after a verbal altercation.

An autopsy revealed that Henry had developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) during his playing career due to repetitive hits to the head.

Because CTE can only be definitively diagnosed in an autopsy and Henry was still active in the NFL when he died, Henry represented the first case where an active player had died and could be diagnosed with CTE.

Henry was born to Carolyn Lee and David Henry in Belle Chasse, Louisiana.

He attended Belle Chasse High School where he was named New Orleans small schools offensive player of the year during his senior year.

During that season the Fighting Cardinals made it to the Louisiana AAA State championship game, which was played at the Louisiana Superdome.

Henry also excelled in basketball and track.