Ochocinco Won't Be Unocinco Sunday

NFL News - December 20th - Written by John

Chad Ochocinco will pay tribute to his fallen teammate, Chris Henry, on Sunday. But he will be doing it in a much more mainstream way that is being allowed by the NFL.

Like the rest of his Cincinnati Bengals' teammates, Ochocinco will wear a no. 15 sticker on his helmet, and not wear that number on his jersey like he had planned.

Earlier in the week of the 2009 NFL Season, Ochocinco told reporters that he was very close with Henry, and planned on wearing no. 15 against the San Diego Chargers, instead of his usual 85. He wore the new number all week during practice, but was informed by the league that he would be fined if he wore it in a game. Although he asserted that he would willingly pay the fine with help from the NFLPA, the wideout retracted in text messages to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

"It's becoming more of a distraction for myself and my team," Ochocinco wrote. "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."

The NFLPA had originally said that it would reimburse Ochocinco for his payment of the fine, but was informed that NFL prohibit such assistance.

Henry died last Thursday from injuries sustained after falling out of a truck. He reportedly jumped into the bed of her Ford F-150 after she stormed out of the house and drove away following a domestic dispute. Sometime after she sped away, about a half-mile away from the home, Henry fell out and was found unconcious on the side of a small road.

He was rushed to the hospital and held on life-support until it was determined that he would never recover.

He was 26.