Sad day.

I don’t particularly like doing these things because they seem so trivial, but this one just really affects me. I’d rooted for him as a person and a player to put it all together and it really seemed as if it was happening.

And now this? An argument gone wrong? Henry running after his fiancee and jumping in the back of a pickup truck with no way of knowing what would happen next, in no way thinking he couldn’t possibly hang on with one good arm? Surreal.

Though I had only a few interactions with him, I do have memories. He was extraordinarily shy and introverted and was, at times, pained to deal with the media. He, like others, was better in a small group or one-on-one, but even then he was hesitant to open up and let others enter a place he’d either hidden or protected.

He could surprise you, though. He announced right after the last Gator Bowl against Florida State he was going pro … when you figured it was a secret he’d keep. When he beat Maryland with his overtime touchdown, he threw the ball high in the air and roared and quickly looked to celebrate with people who seemed surprised Henry was looking to socialize.

Others who knew and covered him have similar stories. Like the time the Cincinnati Bengals receiver appeared out of nowhere in a rather empty press box and tapped the shoulder of a WVU beat writer who was otherwise a stranger. At that particular moment, though, it was a familiar face for Henry and a source of comfort.

And, man, could the kid play football. To be so tall and long, he ran with such ease and speed. One thing I noticed was how it seemed no matter where the flight of the ball was headed, he was running through it just as it dropped into his path. That’s not a skill that can be learned. It’s innate and he had that and so many other talents.

He also had his problems, too, with substance and substances. Chris Henry was not a third-round talent. He was a third-round pick. There were concerns born out of his troublesome times at WVU about his personality, his attitude, his distractions, his work ethic and whether he could hold himself together as a rich professional athlete. Worst fears were ultimately realized and he was booted from a team that had in the past put up with an awful lot.

But the same owner who’d taken the hits before about his team’s reputation saw something in a reformed Chris Henry. Mike Brown invited Henry back to the team. On a two-year contract. There were no stories about relapses. There were instead tales about a new Henry. No matter the story or the interview, whenever Henry talked about it, it just seemed he’d rather not and simply wanted to exist in anonymity and focus on his life and his job.

He was a good player this season on a team with many options and perhaps the reduced demand was what was needed. When he was coming along, his season ended with a broken arm.

We later saw him on the sideline at the WVU-Cincinnati game with his soon-to-be-fiance. He often leaned in to speak with her and they laughed and cheered throughout the game. I remember after WVU’s first score catching the sight of Henry clapping. Henry was wearing a sling, though, and couldn’t really move his left arm to clap with both hands, yet he couldn’t keep himself from cheering. I thought that was neat.

I think this, however, is sad as hell. I can only really echo the obvious sentiment about perspective, especially in regard to how petty disagreements can be and how they waste so much time and maybe so much more. There are many ways to remember the quiet kid from Belle Chasse, La., and far be it from me to tell anyone what to think, but to me it seems like he was trying to make things right to the very end.