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Thursday, April 3, 2008

How Badly Do the Seahawks Need A Burly Wide Receiver?

posted by on April 3 at 17:11 PM

This morning, the Cincinnati Bengals cut wide receiver Chris Henry after his most recent run in with the law, this time for assault charges. He’ll probably be suspended but if he’s not, he could be a worthwhile pick up during the off-season.

henry.jpg

All afternoon, Brad Steinbacher and I have been arguing about whether the Seahawks should go after Henry or not. While Henry’s off-field shenanigans make him a risky acquisition, the ‘Hawks lost WR DJ Hackett to Carolina last month and we’re hurting for another big, talented—and hopefully less fragile—receiver.

Still, there’s this to consider:

From the AP:

Henry was accused of punching an 18-year-old man in the face and breaking his car window with a beer bottle.

[Henry] was in court last week after being ticketed for driving with expired Kentucky license plates. He paid $149 in fines and court costs, according to the Municipal Court records. He was ticketed a year ago for driving with a suspended license.

Henry was arrested four times between December 2005 and June 2006. He was accused of possession of marijuana in northern Kentucky, carrying a concealed weapon in Florida, drunken driving in Ohio and providing alcohol to minors in northern Kentucky. In that case, he served two days in jail in 2006 after pleading guilty to a charge of letting minors drink alcohol in a hotel room he had rented.

Municipal Court Judge Bernie Bouchard set bond at $51,000 on charges of misdemeanor assault and criminal damaging. Noting Henry’s previous arrests involving drugs, guns and alcohol, the judge called Henry “a one-man crime wave.

Click away to compare Henry’s stats to Hackett’s.

So, we put it to you, Sloggers. Is Henry worth the (potential) trouble?

RSS icon Comments

1

no.

Posted by greg | April 3, 2008 5:13 PM
2

His cheekbones are amazing!

Posted by Michigan Matt (soon to be Balt-o-matt) | April 3, 2008 5:14 PM
3

Hell yeah.

Posted by SeMe | April 3, 2008 5:16 PM
4

Are we that desperate?

Posted by six shooter | April 3, 2008 5:16 PM
5

No, not worth it at all.

We've got a bunch of young receivers we've been developing (Ben Obamanu, Courtney Taylor, Logan Payne and Jordan Kent) that need a shot to prove themselves at some point. Might as well be this season since we have vacancies at the position.

Posted by Hernandez | April 3, 2008 5:17 PM
6

Didn't anyone learn anything from the Seattle Times series about the 2000 UW Rose Bowl-winning team? Also I'm not sure Paul Allen would be down for this pick-up.

Posted by Clarkj | April 3, 2008 5:26 PM
7

Not unless he has a high GPA in a useful field.

And, no, sports management doesn't count.

Posted by Will in Seattle | April 3, 2008 5:26 PM
8

no. and it really pisses me off that spoiled thug ass-hole law-breaking repeat-offender athletes can still secure gainful employment making millions and millions. also, this sends a terrible message to our youth (even if you are a total ass hole and break all kinda of laws, don't worry, you'll still be cool and make lots of money).

Posted by jameyb | April 3, 2008 5:27 PM
9

We need a WR but not Henry. He's talented but has benefited from playing on a team with 2 other talented WR's (Johnson & Houshmandzadeh) which means he's always been covered by a 3rd/4th DB. Also, the track record for WR's switching teams in their career and being successful is really spotty. And finally he's going to be suspended for next season anyways so the Seahawks will have no interest at all.

Posted by Eastside Por Vida | April 3, 2008 5:28 PM
10

Not unless you want to read another Times expose in six months wondering why the DA's office declined to press charges.

Posted by UnoriginalAndrew in | April 3, 2008 5:29 PM
11

No. It's more than a talent question, of course, but I remember as a kid how much I looked up to the likes of Steve Largent and Brian Blades. If my heroes were thugs, I'd have turned out much shittier. A cynic says off-field antics don't matter, but they do.

Posted by Matt Fuckin' Hickey | April 3, 2008 5:33 PM
12

A friend of mine from KC once lectured me about Seattle's desire for "good-guy" sports heroes. They have to be squeaky clean. They should be in milk ads. Richie Sexson can strike out all he wants, because he's a real nice guy and he tries hard.

Then he told me how how the Chiefs, with their roster of convicts, would snort coke off hookers' asses during their superbowl victory parade, right before KC's mayor handed them the key to the city, and they would be cheered all the way. He makes an interesting point, but I was so happy when the Chiefs fizzled that year and the Seahawks made the superbowl for the first time ever.

Posted by Lark Hawk | April 3, 2008 5:41 PM
13

Hot mess. Thought Chad Johnson wanted out.

Posted by left coast | April 3, 2008 5:41 PM
14

No. "Shenanigans", my ass.

Posted by me | April 3, 2008 5:44 PM
15

No. I don't think we need any more "one man crime wave" football players here. Why do we let sports stars get away with this stuff?

And, darn it, I'm still mourning the loss of Josh Brown. He not only kicked, sometimes he tackled, and on at least one occasion he even ran with the ball. I looooved him.

Posted by PopTart | April 3, 2008 5:51 PM
16

Right about now I could use a good burly wide receiver.

zing!

Posted by UNPAID BLOGGER | April 3, 2008 5:52 PM
17

Hell no - talk about a distraction. If they couldn't take D-Jack, how could they handle this guy? If he only had eligibility left Neuheisel would take him though.

Posted by Sawk | April 3, 2008 5:52 PM
18

Jesus, his face could cut glass.

Posted by Gloria | April 3, 2008 5:55 PM
19

over last four or five years, the seahawks have moved almost exclusively toward "character" people who are also talented. the thought has been that the culture would improve, and with it teamwork. maybe the seahawks could handle a questionable fellow or two, but on the average, they really seem to avoid these guys.

Posted by superyeadon | April 3, 2008 6:04 PM
20

He's a white-hot tranny mess!

Posted by cw | April 3, 2008 6:09 PM
21

Didn't we learn our lessons from Jeremy "Hit-and-run-drunk-drivin'-raper" Stevens?

Posted by Curtains | April 3, 2008 6:17 PM
22

No. The Seahawks should not win at all costs. Wherever this guy goes, he won't last. Hell, he may not even live long.

Posted by Fitz | April 3, 2008 6:45 PM
23

No. The fact that any of you fucks think rewarding an ass like this is disgusting. This is why he is such a fuckface - you morons make apologies for him and elevate him as best you can to be above the law. Throw him in jail just like any poor person who committed the same crimes would be sentenced to (and such sentence that would be cheered by you).

Posted by hypocritical seattle | April 3, 2008 7:00 PM
24

@23 If you can't be bothered to read the comments, other than @3, then FUCK OFF!

Posted by Mike of Renton | April 3, 2008 7:11 PM
25

Yes, of course, I don't care if they are serial killers of old grannies in extended care centers and collect their dentures to make necklaces out of. This is America. We are winners. Bring him on. Let's win a Super Bowl!

Posted by Bob | April 3, 2008 7:59 PM
26

For the record, Richie Sexson got a DUI right after he signed with the Mariners. But he's a pretty local white boy, so all is forgiven.

It doesn't seem like Henry is doing anything that egregious, he just needs someone to take him aside and teach him how to not get caught. sign him up!

Posted by doink | April 3, 2008 8:09 PM
27

On the field, HELL YEAH!

Off the field. No way. Seahawks won't touch him. You think having the stench from Jeremy Stevens on their hands has worn off yet? It hasn't. Holmgren has set a precident for jettisoning trouble makers.

Posted by I'm a Nuclear Bomb | April 3, 2008 9:06 PM
28

I do kinda miss yelling out "THE RAPIST" (Or "Therapist" a la reverse Sean Connery when discretion is needed) whenever Jeremy stevens made a catch. But seriously, no.

Posted by stats | April 3, 2008 9:20 PM
29

I really couldn't get past the picture. Damn. That's soccer-player level of pretty, there.

Posted by Abby | April 3, 2008 9:46 PM
30

There are so many thousands of good football players produced in the puppy mill that the US calls its 'University System', that it is VERY hard to believe you need this dude's unique talent.

There are a few cases of former pro sports bad-boys reforming their antisocial ways, and being stars on the field, but you can count them on the fingers of one or two mutilated hands.

Posted by Karlheinz Arschbomber | April 3, 2008 10:34 PM
31

@ 15 PopTart

Spot on! The WR talent pool can't be that shallow... to make this guy look like the best/only choice.......

And Hell Yeah! Leave us not forget the sad and recent departure of Brownie.. I'm still stinging from that, and, dang it, I'm gonna miss him like crazy... (yeah yeah I know, we just signed that hunky Olindo Mare... still...)

Uncle Paul needs to make with the long green and get us some fresh MEAT on both squads... (Anybody mention the whole Alexander conundrum yet??)


Posted by merry | April 4, 2008 12:22 AM
32

post 19 nailed it.

Ruskell has explicitly stated that he'll only consider character and chemistry guys. Besides we've already had one Jerramy Stevens, we don't need another.

I mean jesus, how felonious do you have to be the get cut by the Bengals?

Posted by benj | April 4, 2008 1:14 AM
33

19 & 32 are right.
ruskell would never consider this guy. he wants 'character' for team chemistry. he might not always get it right, but this one is a no-brainer. we should keep our focus on stand-up guys like pacman jones.

Posted by chops | April 4, 2008 8:08 AM
34

No, No, and NO!

Posted by JBlue | April 4, 2008 8:18 AM
35

POTENTIAL trouble? Please.

I'd avoid this guy like the plague.

Posted by me | April 4, 2008 8:25 AM
36

Why is Naomi Campbell dressed as a football player?

Posted by blue man | April 4, 2008 8:31 AM
37

um... no? to answer a post earlier up, no, we are not that desperate. obamanu is going to have a chance to step up this year, and with our bigger, better backfield (julius and duckett) we won't have to have our receiving corps doing all the heavy lifting.

we've also invested in our tight ends, getting TE coach jim lind, but we really need to get a jerramy stevens type talent without the baggage.

Posted by sexy rexy | April 4, 2008 9:13 AM
38

Stop fronting, if Jeremy Stevens had been a hard nose player, he still would be here. The only reason he was traded was because he was soft and dropped passess not because of his felonious behaviour.

Bring the guy, if he fucks up let the law deal with him. lock his ass up. You put up with christian right wing nuts like our Bush loving pansy Quarter back, but oh no, we cant have a guy with an assault charge cuz were "good" guys. You fools are nuts. Its a gladiator sport, if you want role models get new parents.

Posted by SeMe | April 4, 2008 9:31 AM
39

Besides, there are no rape charges against this guy. Pot, drinking and fighting. Who hasnt punched somebody in the face during a wee bar brawl. Please, this is football, we pay to see people demolished on the field and get their heads bashed in and than we want to be all puritanical and shit.

Posted by SeMe | April 4, 2008 9:37 AM
40

@39: I don't see how it's wrong to want players who can compartmentalize their aggression and behave appropriately off the field.

Posted by Greg | April 4, 2008 9:48 AM
41

The Seahawks haven't had much success, on the field, with head cases who can't keep their shit together off the field. Koren Robinson, Jerramy Stevens, the Boz, Steve Raible, etc.

I'm not overly concerned with the need for role models (so-called) and boy scouts on the roster for the chillun's sake. It's just that experience tells me that highly effective players who perform in a business-like fashion on game day, are the ones who generally manage to avoid repeated trouble on their off time.

Posted by Joe M | April 4, 2008 9:51 AM
42

Yes. Sign him for 4 mil a year, cut him midseason after he gets pulled over in smellvue with 3 hookers, 4 40s and 5 kilos. Then cut him loose midseason. Then he can find Jeebus in Green Bay like Koren, and punch his ticket to the Superbowl.

Posted by wbrproductions | April 4, 2008 12:41 PM
43

Steve Raible?!?!?!

o_0

Posted by merry | April 4, 2008 3:20 PM

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