Pro Football Talk: Chris Henry Named Bengals Captain for Final Preseason Game

I..uh....er....wtf?

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/...-team-captain/

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CHRIS HENRY, TEAM CAPTAIN
Posted by Michael David Smith on August 29, 2008, 12:31 p.m. EDT
Last year the NFL made a point of emphasizing the importance of team captains, officially acknowledging them with “C” patches on their jerseys and recognizing the leadership captains provide.

“Team captains are a key element in building team leadership and enhancing communication between players, coaches and management,” NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson said in a statement released by the league. “A perfect example of the benefit of this kind of communication is that the players themselves suggested the concept of re-emphasizing the team captains.”

All in all, the message was clear: Team captains are fine, upstanding men worthy of respect from their teammates, opponents and fans.

So who did the Bengals choose as their captain for last night’s preseason finale?

Chris Henry.

Yes, that Chris Henry, the wide receiver who is about to leave the team for the next month because he’s suspended for the first four games of the regular season for repeated violations of the league’s personal conduct policy. Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News reports that Henry was a captain for last night’s game.

It should be noted that captains for preseason games aren’t necessarily captains for the regular season, and Henry almost certainly won’t be wearing a “C” on his jersey when he returns in Week 5 against the Cowboys. But it does send an odd message that a guy whose inability to get his act together caused him to be suspended for half of the 2007 season, get cut during the 2008 off-season and get suspended for a quarter of the 2008 season was given the honor.

No word on whether the Cowboys have chosen Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson as their captains for the regular season.

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Yeah, it's a 'WTF' thing, but like I said before, what has Chris Henry done wrong the past couple years? It's been nothing but a bunch of false accusations that have been thrown out by the court of law. He screwed up--no doubt--but he's behaved much better over recent times. I wouldn't want him to be my leader over an entire regular season, but I think it's great to reward good behavior.

The Bengals let them know that Henry wasn't a captain.

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HENRY WASN’T A CAPTAIN
Posted by Mike Florio on August 29, 2008, 5:14 p.m. EDT

Earlier today, we posted an item based on a report from Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News regarding the fact (ahem) that receiver Chris Henry was named a team captain for the Bengals’ final preseason game.

We’ve been contacted by the Bengals with this clarification.

“Coach Lewis did not name Chris a captain,” said Bengals public relations direction Jack Brennan via e-mail. “Captains named by Coach Lewis for the game were Ryan Fitzpatrick, Stacy Andrews, Leon Hall, Darryl Blackstock and David Jones. I was present when Coach gave those names to the officials pregame.

“Chick says he saw Chris out there. I can’t tell you where Chris physically was at that moment. But I’ve spoken to three other beat writers, who all say they recall paying some attention to the toss and do not recall seeing Chris in proximity to the captains group. One of the three says he was eyeballing the captains’ group through binoculars. Chris’ position coach also recalls looking at the captains and not seeing Chris in the area.

“Whatever Chick recalls seeing, we respectfully believe his report was based on, at best, an incorrect impression, unaccompanied by any attempt seek confirmation from the team.”

We think that’s the nicest way we’ve ever witnessed one person tell another person that he was/is full of poop.

We apologize for the error, which is easy for us to do because it wasn’t, you know, our error. For a change.


http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/...snt-a-captain/

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I could see where the mistake would be. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Chris Henry look a lot alike.

Must be pretty embarrassing for Ryan Fitzpatrick. A Harvard graduate being confused with -- well Chris Henry.

It kinda shows Chick Ludwig's bitterness towards the Bengals

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Originally Posted by Oxilon

Must be pretty embarrassing for Ryan Fitzpatrick. A Harvard graduate being confused with -- well Chris Henry.

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Happens all the time, I'm sure. Then again, maybe that's the thing about Henry- he's so easily confused with people all the time; people driving drunk, people hanging out with thugs, people driving around the block repeatedly in the deepest reaches of the drug dealing centers of Cincinnati. Yeah, he's easily confused with a lot of people. All the while he's been at home, grilling on his back porch with his friends from church.

The sad thing about this is that if any less of a dunder head would have been confused with the team captain, the response would have simply been, "Oh, sorry. It was Ryan Fitzpatrick". False accusations or not, Chris Henry has put himself in this position.

Sure, he put himself in the position, but people should give him a chance to get out of the position, in my opinion. It goes both ways, though. Just because someone does great things from 2001-6 doesn't mean he should have received more accolades over the past couple years than the guy who was doing great things the past two years.