On the way, maybe — but not there

Chris Henry, we’re told, had finally figured it out. He had turned his life around. He had put himself on the right path.

From the reaction of the locker room to his death, it’s certain the Bengal wide receiver was popular with his teammates, and it’s understandable they — along with team executives and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell — would speak words of praise in wake of his passing.

But about that passing …

Henry either fell or jumped from the back of a moving truck in the midst of an reported domestic dispute with Loleini Tonga, his fiancée and the mother of his three children. Tonga, the truck’s driver, was trying to get away from Henry. Witnesses heard him say, “If you take off, I'm going to jump out and kill myself.”

Henry apparently was in the process of change, and we’ll never know the person he might have become. But from the circumstances of his death, one thing is clear: The young man was a long way from figuring it all out.

Enough already

So, Bengals fans, had enough yet?

Enough with head coach Marvin Lewis and club president Mike Brown?

First, they draft completely without any regard to player behavior. Then they stand by their miscreants when they misbehave — to the tune of 10 players arrested over 14 months. When over the years that enabling only produces losing teams and chaos, they suddenly develop a character gene — abruptly cutting fleet-but-clueless receiver Chris Henry in March after yet another arrest (don’t ask — I’ve lost count).

At the time, Brown said, and I quote: "His conduct can no longer be tolerated."

A month ago, Lewis said, "I'm not interested (in bringing Henry back). I don't think it would be productive for our football team. You have to be a productive part to be an NFL player, and there's responsibilities to being an NFL player. It's a privilege, it's not a right. There's a lot that comes with being an NFL football player.”

And there’s a lot that comes with being an NFL head coach, at least a head coach for Cincinnati: the ability to do a 180 with your word. So a couple days after Bengals receiver Chad Johnson turned an ankle, guess who was back with the Bungles?

Bingo.

Asked to comment on his flip-flop, Brown had nothing to say Tuesday. Actually, there’s nothing he needs to say. Bringing Henry back said it all.

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