NFL Insider - Was Chris Henry Really on the Right Path?

Did Henry really have it all together?

I hate to ruin everybody's mourning, but I have no doubt that some additional questions are going to be asked about the accident that led to Chris Henry's death on Thursday. First, people have to step back to get a little perspective on the situation, because there was a lot of talk at the Cincinnati Bengals' (+800 to win the AFC at BetUS) press conference about how Henry had managed to "turn his life around."

Henry had a lot of arrests, some for minor stuff (marijuana possession, driving without a license), some for stuff that was not so minor. For example, in January of 2006 he was arrested for aggravated assault with a firearm. In June of 2007 he was detained for drunk driving. He was jailed for assaulting a valet attendant in Kentucky in November 2007, and about four months later punched out an 18-year-old kid and threw a beer bottle through the front window of his car.

There were also various violations of the league's substance abuse policy, which less to suspensions and eventually his release by the Bengals, although he eventually came back and was given another chance.

By now you know that Henry was in Charlotte with his fiancee, Loleini Tonga, as he was knocked out for the year with a broken arm. According to Bengals owner Mike Brown, Henry had surgery and had a pin in his arm. If he had resolved himself to "get with the program," what in the world was he doing chasing down a pickup truck and jumping in the back bed?

Considering that police have reported that his accident came as a result of a "domestic dispute," I wonder what he must have done to have her driving away, and apparently away from HIM specifically, leaving three kids back at the house with her mother, and how mad he must have been to chase down a truck and jump in the back. What was he going to do if he got hold of her?

Have any of you chased after a truck after a "dispute" and jumped on board while it was moving? With a broken arm that was supposed to be healing? If so, was it because you were happy, or because you were absolutely enraged? What would you have done if successful? Maybe something ugly?

I know what the public face of Brown and coach Marvin Lewis is right now, but I've got to believe that deep down, they've got to be questioning whether Chris Henry really did "get his life together" or whether that was just a bit of a facade.

Warrick Dunn has become a minority owner of the Atlanta Falcons (125/1 at BetUS to win the NFC), it was announced. he joins John Stallworth of the Pittsburgh Steelers as a former player who purchased a stake in the team he used to play for.

In a league where there are a lot of thugs, hustlers and phony charity "benefactors," Dunn has stood out as a good guy, through some of his organizations such as Home for the Holidays, where he helped people acquire houses for the first time, and Athletes for Hope, which is designed to develop others like Dunn who use their celebrity status as a way of helping others. He won the NFL's Man of the Year Award in 2004.