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Henry's spirit felt on Sunday
By Paul Dehner Jr., CNATI.com Posted December 27, 2009 6:10 PM ET
Five days ago the Bengals buried their teammate, Chris Henry. On Sunday, Henry's spirit was still very much present in the team's final regular season home game.
Before the game began, a short tribute video was shown on the scoreboard screen that showed some of Henry's highlights and photos.
The touching compilation put the Bengals back into a vulnerable place only minutes before taking the field to play for a berth in the playoffs.
"It was an emotional day for these guys," Andrew Whitworth said. "I know I looked down the sideline and a lot of these guys were in tears after watching the Chris thing. That was tough for us to see right before the game."
The Bengals then went through one of the least productive first halves of the season. They totaled 53 yards, 10 passing and only mustered one Shayne Graham field goal.
Even that came on a drive that lost four yards.
"You can't say probably some of this week didn't lag over into that first half," Andrew Whitworth said.
The Bengals traveled from San Diego to Cincinnati last Sunday, down to New Orleans on Tuesday then went through a holiday week of practices.
"It was a long week," Carson Palmer said. "We didn't have an off day this week. We played on the West Coast last week and the time change got to us. Tuesday was a long day with Chris' funeral. That was a long emotional day. We had a long Wednesday and an abbreviated Thursday. We were drained and Coach has done a good job letting us get our energy back."
They eventually found enough energy to drive 98 yards of the game-winning touchdown. The final play was a 6-yard touchdown pass to Chad Ochocinco. The outspoken Bengals wideout flashed up 15 with his fingers to honor his fallen friend.
Ochocinco also helped organize fans laying on their horns 15 times at 11:15 a.m. during the tailgate on Sunday morning. The horns filled the air to begin a day that ended with Henry still in his former teammate's thoughts.
"I'm not jumping for joy or glee; just thinking about No. 15 (Chris Henry) once that clock hit zero," he said. "That was everybody's mindset -- to go out there and win this one for him. That's about it."
Categories: Cincinnati Bengals, Featured Stories, News
Tags: Bengals, Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco, Chris Henry
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