Many members of the Cincinnati Bengals organization traveled to Louisiana on Tuesday to say farewell to teammate Chris Henry, who died last week.
Speakers at the service included Commissioner Roger Goodell and Bengals coach Marvin Lewis.
“When you think of Chris, just take a moment and remember that smile,” Lewis said, per the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “Remember that sparkle in his eyes he got when he spoke about his family and his friends and football.”
Goodell said that Henry, who had been suspended several times by the team and the league office, “seemed to be doing the right things,” and that he “seemed to be focused.”
“I think he understood as time went on how important his family was and his responsibilities to his family, and I think that includes his NFL family.”
We’re told that one member of Henry’s NFL family who opted not to make the trip to Louisiana was Bengals running back Cedric Benson. He stayed in Cincinnati.
Though the mourning process is intensely personal in nature, the reality here is that, by not going to the funeral, the stage could be set for an issue between Benson and one or more of the guys who gave up a day to make the trip -- especially if Benson’s reason for not going was that he simply didn’t want to go.