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chris rimm
Nashville, Tennessee – Linebacker woke up by loud bangs witch henley Saturday morning. Henley thought he had fallen asleep in a meeting and ran to his hotel room door.
lined up outside linebacker denzel perrymanWho told Henley she needed to call her mother. When Henley did so, he learned the saddest news of his life: his brother, Jabari Henley, had been shot to death the previous night.
“Being transparent, I dropped to my knees,” Henley said.
Henley said he never thought about sitting out Sunday’s game. This proved to be one of his better performances, as he finished with one sack, one pass deflection, and seven tackles. los angeles chargers, 27-20 overcome tennessee titans,
After the game, Henley sat at his locker with a towel over his head as teammates consoled him. He posted a photo on his Instagram Story of him with tears in his eyes and captioned it, “Love you big brother.”
Security derwin james He said he kept an eye on Henley throughout, from pregame warmups to the national anthem and throughout the game to make sure he was there for him if he needed any support.
“That kid’s been through a lot, man,” James said. “He’s our green dot, our leader, our captain, and to be able to battle, brother, it’s tough. And for him to go out there, man, I have a lot of respect for him.”
When Henley sacked the Titans quarterback cam ward In the second quarter, he got down on his knees and began to pray.
“I just wanted to talk to my brother one more time,” Henley said. “It was an emotional moment for me to be able to make a play on a day like that after losing him so early. Like I said, it’s been a long year for me, so I just had to send a prayer and hope he heard it.”
Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Norma Eisenman told ESPN that Jabari Henley was shot shortly after 11 p.m. local time on Friday in South Los Angeles. Preliminary investigation found that he was shot multiple times while approaching a vehicle. The suspects fled and no arrests have been made, Eisenman said.
According to Eisenman, officers attempted to render aid to Henley, but paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Henley was 34 years old.
Dion Henley said that Jabari was his best friend and one of the few people he would answer the phone for, no matter the reason. Henley grew up with three siblings, two older brothers, Jabari and Michael, and a younger sister, Cherish.
“He’s like my best friend,” Henley said. “I called him the protector. For one thing, he was the protector of our family.”
It’s been a nightmare year for Henley.
In March, his father, Eugene “Big U” Henley, a first-generation Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips leader turned music executive, was arrested and charged with 43 counts of running a criminal enterprise that perpetrated multiple crimes, including extortion, human trafficking, fraud and, in 2021, the murder of a rap artist. Eugene Henley has denied the allegations.
Dion Henley said he talked to his father, who encouraged him to play Sunday and express the anger he felt.
“I was in a lot of pain, man, a lot of pain,” Henley said. “I just wanted to go out there and let whatever I had to let out come out.”
Also, before the Chargers’ Week 2 game against las vegas raidersHenley contracted an infection, lost 10 pounds and had to use an oxygen tank throughout the game. The infection lasted several weeks and Henley’s play declined.
But Henley has returned to his usual form in recent weeks – although he will now have to play out the remainder of the season due to the death of his brother.
“As sad as it all is, I’ve got a job,” Henley said. “For me, it was about coming here and handling the job first and then getting emotional later, and everything impressed me a lot.
“Honestly, this has probably been the worst year of my life.”
