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Daiyan Henley breaks silence on playing vs. Titans days after brother’s murder
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- Daiyan Henley breaks silence on playing vs. Titans days after brother’s murder
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The post Daiyan Henley breaks silence on playing vs. Titans days after brother's murder appeared first on ClutchPoints .
This season has really put LA Chargers LB Daiyan Henley to the test. Back in September, he played through illness as the Chargers defeated the Las Vegas Raiders.
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But that pales in comparison to the tragedy he just experienced. Last Saturday, Henely found out through his mother that his older brother Jabri was shot and killed, per Kris Rhim of ESPN.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Jabri was shot multiple times while approaching his vehicle at around 11 pm. The suspects fled the scene, and no arrests have been made. Jabri was 34 years old.
Upon receiving the news, Henley reacted with sheer horror.
"Being transparent, I dropped to my knees," Henley said. Even after hearing the news, Henley decided to go out and play on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
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Ultimately, the Chargers went on to win 27-20, moving to 6-3 on the year. In the process, Henely finished with seven tackles, a pass deflection, and a sack.
Afterward, his teammate and safety Derwin James heaped praise on the team captain.
"That kid's been through so much, man," James said. "He's our green dot, our leader, our captain, and just being able to battle, bro, that's tough. And for him to go out there, man, I got so much respect for him."
After the game, Henley took to Instagram and posted a tribute to his brother under the caption "Love you big bro", all the while in tears in the locker room.
It's been a roller coaster year for Daiyan Henley
After sacking Titans QB Cam Ward, Henley took a moment to say a prayer for Jabri.
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"I just wanted to talk to my brother one more time," Henley said. "It was just an emotional moment for me just to be able to make a play on a day like this, just losing him so soon. Like I said, it's been a long year for me, so I had to just send a prayer up and hopefully he heard it."
"That's like my best friend. I called him a protector. One thing, he was a protector of our family."
Altogether, after talking with his father, Henley made it a point to go out and play.
"I had a lot of pain, man, a lot of pain," Henley said. "I just wanted to go out there and just let it out, whatever I had to get out."
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"As traumatizing as all this is, I got a job to do. For me, it was coming out here and handling a job first and then being emotional after, and everything hit me pretty hard."
Henley has had to endure a tremenous amount of difficulty this year.
"It's probably been the worst year of my life, to be quite honest with you" he said. In March, his father, record executive Eugene "Big U" Henley was arrested on 43 count federal indicment into allegations of acketeering conspiracy, murder, human trafficking, extortion, fraud, and tax crimes.
All part of a RICO investigation into gang activity for which Eugene has connections to gangs.
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Then, there is his battle with an illness that caused him to lose at least twenty pounds.
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