After planning to wear Chris Henry’s number 15 jersey; Chad Ochocinco changed his mind for the sake of not distracting the Bengals.
He says in text messages to ESPN, "It’s becoming more of a distraction for myself and my team. Chris wouldn’t want it to go the way it is.
"It can turn into a big negative if we don’t perform the way we should. I’ll have his jersey in hand throughout the entire game. His jersey is also 4 times bigger than my normal one."
To dismiss the potential distraction of wearing the jersey is a respectable gesture; but would the positives outweigh the negatives in this situation? Every Bengals player will have the sticker number 15 on their helmets in honor of Henry, and it will inherently become an emotional game. By having another wide receiver wearing Henry’s jersey, it does a few things to the club that I believe creates a better platform for the Bengals to win:
(1) It causes a physical disillusionment of Henry’s presence or creates a greater focus on Ochocinco’s tribute. By doing this, the teammates are constantly reminded what this game in particular means to the Bengals franchise. The traumatic blow to a team is not a sympathy case—it gives the team a stage to perform a recovery. It causes a run that other teams simply cannot match because the innate fire that propelled the certain franchise is unique. Through the physical reenactment, or the simple attendance of a number 15 jersey on the wide receiver slot is a mental reminder of what the Bengals need to do.
(2) By Ochocinco wearing the number 15, it will become extraordinarily emotional for Ochocinco himself. To wear the jersey of a teammate shows brotherhood in the locker room, to wear the jersey of a teammate who recently passed away shows the spiritual bond in that locker-room. Like all sports with a group of athletes together in one unit, the locker room relationship plays a huge role as to how the team plays together. Through wearing Henry’s jersey, in essence, Ochocinco is wearing the memories that he has shared with Henry—which allows itself to a deeper meaning game for Ochocinco as an individual.
(3) Most importantly, the National Football Leagues image would glisten if Ochocinco wears the jersey because of the stories that would storm newspapers across America. Henry’s jersey is symbolic of not only what he meant to the NFL but what he was as a person. For an athletic 26 year-old to die with three kids and a fiancé left behind is heart-wrenching and unfathomably depressing story. But newspapers would not focus on that story, they would focus on how the brotherhood of that locker room evolved and created a revolutionized Bengals team despite the outcome of the game. A loss in a football game then becomes a miniscule loss in respect to the loss of the great character in the locker room. Wearing the jersey becomes more than just wearing the jersey, it becomes an uplifting story that about people and coping with loss in a way that even non-sports fans can understand. It becomes universal.
Although his decision has been made, one wonders whether or not Ochocinco made the right move. There might not be a right or wrong answer because coping with a loss detaches itself from the rationale, but this could be the defining moment for the 9-4 Bengals.
