Watching Your Favorite Player Leave Your Team And Wear Your Rivals Colors Is So, So Cruel

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Never easy watching an old flame make their way to their new fling, I had to deal with that last night as one of my favorite players ever donned a rivals jersey for the first time in the regular season. Derrick Henry rocked the 22 for the Ravens and boy did that image hit me like a ton of bricks. I obviously knew he was in Baltimore but I had blocked that image out of my memory to try and protect myself, well there was no getting around it last night as he scored the first TD of the NFL season. I tried to block out all the storylines leading up to last night but I couldn't escape them. John Harbaugh did his usual thing and went away from the run game as the Ravens went down which takes Henry out of the game. 5 carries on the first drive that ended with a TD from the King but only 8 carries the rest of the way. Even though he didn't have his vintage King Henry night, it still sucked the life out of me to see him in that white and purple and not the two-toned blue. Turning on the tube and seeing that 22 right in front of me was a gut punch and a half. My favorite active player suiting up for a team that has owned me for much of my life, that shook me.

He truly does embody everything the Ravens are about and he's a perfect fit but man does is it a shock to see him in that uniform. It's like Ed Reed as a Jet, it's like Brett Favre as a Vikings, it's Patrick Ewing in a Magic uniform, it's Jerry Rice as a Seahawk, Emmitt Smith as a Cardinal, Griffey Jr as a White Sox, it will never look right to me. It was the right move for the Titans to let him walk in free agency (after their owner blocked a trade that would have sent Henry to the Ravens at the deadline last year), it 100% was. The Titans are retooling, needed a change with the offense and his with age it was a no-brainer to let him walk. I knew he was going to be a Raven before he knew it, it just made too much sense. Hard nosed, workout freak, incredible athlete who wants to win, Baltimore is the place to be for that. But going to a rival hurts so, so bad. It's cruel and unusual punishment watching your guy cross enemy lines. I'm at least happy that most of my friends get to experience Henry like I got to for those 8 years, but he's still one that I wish didn't get away. I hate how damn good he looks in that uniform, I hate it. 

That's just sports though, you watch your favorite teams get dismantled with players going elsewhere and you just have to accept it. Their rivalry is all but dead after the Ravens beat the Titans in the 2021 playoffs but man were there some great games between these franchises. AFC Championship in 2000, Gary Anderson hitting the game winner in Baltimore in 2003, Ravens squeaking one out in the Divisional Round in 2009, Derrick Henry running all over the boys in purple in 2020 as well. There have been some good ones and it was awesome to have Henry on my side for a few of those. I'll always love the King, he's easily in my top 3-4 players of all-time with Eddie George, Steve McNair and Chris Johnson, but if you love something you have to let it go. Won't be easy watching 22 run over people all season as a Raven but that is the life of a tortured sports fan. Giants fans probably feel similar with Saquon Barkley jumping ship to the Eagles, so Giants fans, I feel your pain. We'll keep those jerseys in our closets and remember all the good times while shuttering at the current images. Losing a franchise legend to a rival is cruel and unusual punishment, I don't wish this upon anyone.