Bengals aren't innocent bystanders in Henry's death

It was a moment of Twitter stupidity for a good and bright man.

In the moments following the announcement of the sad end of a sad life, New York Jets kicker Jay Feely, who has political aspirations, made some curious statements on Twitter.

"You hope that these tragic circumstances will wake people to the reality that our actions have real consequences," Feely tweeted.

Mike Brown (left) and Marvin Lewis waived Chris Henry once -- then brought him right back. (AP)

What the hell was Feely trying to say? It sounded condescending and, frankly, somewhat inappropriate. The news of Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry's death was fresh (literally minutes old) and Feely -- who on an earlier tweet did wish Henry's family well -- was nevertheless entering preachy mode in the immediate aftermath of a tragic accident.

Feely added this Tweet later: "Chris Henry seemed to have turned his life around. But, you can't live on the brink of destruction without inevitably falling off the ledge."

He made a reference to Henry falling off a ledge just a short time after Henry was killed while falling off the back of a moving vehicle.

No, not the best choice of Tweeting words.

And then Feely Tweeted: "younger generation needs to learn the lesson that our choices have implications and those implications often entail negative consequences."

"Spoke from the heart. My cousin died a couple of weeks ago under similar circumstances. He was finally on right path...

"Terrible choice of words with 'falling of ledge' I truly didn't mean to refer to his death. I apologized for the poor wording & callousness...

"I desired to implore people to help loved ones understand that choices create a path for our lives. It's very hard to get off the wrong path."

Feely is a good dude and his adventure into Twitter political correctness demonstrates how difficult this Henry situation is to grasp for us all.

There's an uncomfortable stance few have offered up about the Henry tragedy and I'm going to state it. If you want to read the syrupy and the gooey, go elsewhere.

Henry's case is sad and the blame for his demise falls on his shoulders, but the Bengals aren't far behind.

The Bengals repeatedly enabled Henry. For every Henry transgression, there was an excuse from the Bengals. For every arrest, another chance.

There was little tough love from the Bengals because they craved his talent. And if there was any player who needed a dose of tough love, it was Henry.

In some ways that's what Feely was trying to say, but it came out wrong and was poorly timed. There was no need for that kind of bluntness just minutes after Henry's death.

Someone needed to say "no" to Henry, but that's a word he rarely heard from the Bengals. Even when the Bengals finally decided that Henry's hypnotic talent shouldn't overwhelm his mini-crime sprees, releasing him in April 2008, they brought Henry back just a few months later after a rash of injuries hit their team.

That's all Henry needed to know about consequences. There are none in Bengals-land thanks to coach Marvin Lewis and owner Mike Brown, the greatest enablers of criminals and problem players the league has ever seen.

If the Bengals parted ways with Henry -- permanently -- he might still be alive today because the lessons he was supposedly learning might've sunk in sooner.

I told you this was an uncomfortable stance.

It may be accurate that Henry let down his family and friends over the years, but in the end the Bengals also failed Henry.

There were many moments when the Bengals could've taken a stand against Henry which would've helped the troubled receiver with his overall life. Instead, the Bengals wagged the index finger and said, "Don't do that again."

After another arrest -- don't do that. And another -- don't do it. And again -- don't do it. The Bengals weren't providing means for Henry to become a better person because the team was too busy tracking his 40 time.

"I don't regret it," Brown said, when asked about the multiple chances the Bengals gave Henry. "He had troubles, and some of them were made more of than I think they actually were."

That attitude has been part of the problem. Henry's troubles were the media's fault?

Henry was arrested five times in a 28-month span and a judge once called Henry "a one-man crime spree."

I'm not certain how I'll remember Henry. All of this is still new. It's sad that he's gone, especially if he was turning his life around, as the Bengals claim.

What is certain amid this ugliness is there's a legitimate question to ask.

In the end did the Bengals, in a single-minded effort to mine Henry's physical ability, fail him?