During a phone interview with Houshmandzadeh on Friday, Dec. 18, he shared some emotional thoughts of his fallen friend.
“I think Chris was grossly misunderstood as a person,” Houshmandzadeh said. “There are only a few people who can say that they carried on a conversation with him his first three years on the team. He just didn’t talk and kept to himself.
“I don’t know how many people were really close to Slim, but I still talked to him. I talked to him after he broke his arm. We didn’t talk everyday but did keep up with one another. I’m going to miss that boy dearly.”
Henry, a talented receiver, will probably be remembered most for his brushes with the law.
“Chris didn’t have any really, really, big problems,” Houshmandzadeh said. “There were problems because of the profession he was in and the publicity that comes with that. So when he did make a mistake he got caught. A lot of people have made mistakes but they didn’t get caught. He got caught and it was highly publicized. I knew a different Chris Henry than his public persona would indicate.
“I’ve always thought that Chris was a good dude and told him that. When he first got into trouble with the Bengals, I sat him down and I talked to him. I told (receivers coach) Hugh Jackson I got this. I’m going to talk to him. I talked to him and we had a good conversation. Chris came to me the next day and said, ‘Thanks, T, you said some real stuff to me. I appreciate that you would think enough about me to talk to me like that.’ ”
Houshmandzadeh said he talked to Jackson the day of Henry’s death and the conversation was beyond heartfelt.
“Hugh couldn’t even talk and was crying the whole time,” Houshmandzadeh said. “Hugh was the one that put his neck on the line for Chris. Chris didn’t take a pre-draft visit to anyone but the Cincinnati Bengals. When he came for his visit he was with Chad Johnson, myself and Hugh Jackson. We took him out to eat and then to a comedy club. We had a good time and I saw a lot of good in Chris.
“On top of that, the boy had mad talent. It’s a shame that we won’t have the opportunity to see him reach his full potential as a player and person. He had really turned his life around. The whole thing is just crazy to me.”
Henry may have admired and desired the limelight that Chad received on the field, but he wanted to pattern his life after T.J.
I remember a conversation I had with Henry during the offseason and he talked about how much he looked up to Houshmandzadeh. Henry said he learned a lot about the game from T.J., calling him the smartest player he had ever been around. He added that he was going to miss Houshmandzadeh’s leadership in the huddle after moving on to Seattle.
“Chris always would say, ‘T, I’m going to be a family man like you man,’ ” Houshmandzadeh said. “I told him that a family man is not out there hanging out in the clubs. They’re at home with their families. I believe Chris took that to heart and made a conscious effort to change his life and did it. It’s sad that his life was cut short. I will definitely be playing with a heavy heart on Sunday with him in mind.”
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