During a Thursday practice, Chad Ochocinco wore the jersey of his fallen teammate Chris Henry. Ochocinco said via his Ustream page that afternoon that he was going to wear this jersey on Sunday and did not care what fine the NFL imposed on him. He was live on Ustream for a long time yesterday giving an almost impromptu eulogy for Henry, at times getting emotional. He told stories of the two during training camp and their pre game rituals and basically honored the memory of his friend. The last time Ochocinco tried to wear a jersey that did not have his name on the back was last year at Baltimore when he tried to debut his Ochocinco jersey, but the papers hadn’t been processed with the league yet for the name change. Therefore, Ochocinco was not allowed on the field until he changed. We all understand the NFL’s rules and we completely understand the reasoning for not letting him on the field that day. But this is a far different situation. This is a time to sit back and let the rules bend a little. We are talking about a man trying to mourn the loss of his friend. I know many of the Redskins players would have jumped at the opportunity to wear Sean Taylor’s number if given the chance. It is a way to show honor and give closure to a lost teammate and I am all for it. What on Earth could this possibly disrupt for the NFL? Every sports fan in America would obviously know it wasn’t Chris Henry on the field, but Ochocinco instead. What if he removes the nameplate and just wears the number 15? Maybe the NFL can adopt a rule that if a player passes away during a season, they will allow one player from their team to wear the deceased jersey for 1 game. Would that be so hard? Show some compassion here Roger. Even if the No Fun League does not allow Chad to wear #15 this Sunday, I am sure he will find a proper way to honor the life of Chris Henry. We have all heard players say their team is like their family and I think the NFL needs to let this family grieve.
