Chris Henry's Many Rises and Falls

Chris Henry led a life that seemed to be nothing but trouble, but not long after being hailed by friends, teammates and the media for turning that life around, one more tragic mistake ended it.

Just two months ago to the day, this now haunting story appeared on the front page of the Cincinnati Enquirer It lauded Henry for the amazing changes that had overcome him. No more drugs. No more booze. No more women. He had finally started taking football seriously, and more importantly, he had taken responsibility for his family. Things were going to be different from now on.

Most of the credit for Henry's new-found happiness went to Loleini Tonga, his fianceé. She stuck by him through his troubles—through his five arrests, his suspension, his release—when all the fair-weather friends disappeared. Their wedding planning was the reason he was in Charlotte, North Carolina. That and an injury that cut short his season, the best one he and his team had seen in years. Henry had once been a symbol for all that was wrong with that franchise, but they gave him all the second chances in the world and they had made their comebacks together.

[Video via ESPN]

We don't know why he got in a fight with his fianceé, why he got in the back of that truck, or how he ended up falling out of it, but this last troubling incident is made all the more tragic by the belief of those around him, that there wouldn't be any more. The man once notorious called "a one-man crime wave" had changed his ways. Just like fellow NFL player Sean Taylor, his past did not "catch up with him," but the saddest stories are those that should have had a happy ending.

Chris Henry: Family Guy [Cincinnati Enquirer]
Reflections on Chris Henry from the locker room [Cincinnati Enquirer]