Four months ago it looked as though the Cincinnati Bengals might be ready to make a point. After five arrests, the last one coming when he allegedly pummeled a University of Cincinnati student, breaking his car window with a beer bottle.

A jury couldn’t come to a decision on that case but the Bengals did. Enough was enough. They were moving on, releasing the thug and selecting three wide receivers in the April draft.

But now, with Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh nursing injuries, it appears as though Henry is going to get that elusive sixth chance. His agent, Marvin Frazier, told the Associated Press that his client was close to joining the Bengals. A deal could be completed today.

“We’re in talks and we’re real close,” Frazier told the AP. “I’m just glad they’re willing to let the past be the past and give him a chance. I just hope that the Cincinnati fans will give him the same type of chance.”

It’s a chance he certainly hasn’t earned. Henry, whose arrest record is rivaled by Adam “Don’t Call me Pacman” Jones and few others, sat out the first eight games of the 2007 season after  being suspended for numerous arrests and still has to sit out the first four of this season.

Coach Marvin Lewis was asked last month about the possibility that Henry might re-join the team. At the time he sounded as though he’d had enough of the Henry-related headaches. “I don’t think it would be productive for our football team,” Lewis said at the time. “There’s responsibilities to being an NFL player. It’s a privilege, it’s not a right.”

It seemed for awhile as though the Bengals were going to let their former mega-talented receiver learn that lesson the hard way. But alas, this is the NFL and when injuries hit, often times talent trumps life’s hard lessons.

Henry recently told ESPN.com he would stay out of trouble if given another chance, according to the previously referenced AP story. “I just have to be smart and handle myself like a professional at all times,” he told the Web site.

Henry is a fun receiver to watch. He has talent most can only dream of and he has the chance to earn a lot of fame and fortune playing this game. So far he’s been too dumb to realize that it could all be taken away in a hurry. One can only hope that his words translates to actions and that in this case the sixth time is the charm.