ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Travis Henry has convinced coach Mike
Shanahan he's not a pothead. Now he'll take his case to the NFL.
The Denver Broncos' troubled tailback is trying to keep the
league from suspending him over the results of a drug test earlier
this season. He'll present his case to the NFL in Phoenix on
Friday.
If he's unsuccessful, he faces a year's suspension.
Shanahan is confident that won't be the case.
"If I thought the test was positive, Travis would not be on our
football team," Shanahan said Monday.
Shanahan said he doesn't expect to hear back from the league on
a ruling until after his team's game against the Tennessee Titans,
Henry's former team, next Monday night.
"I don't think they would do that," Shanahan said. "You
practice somebody during the week and not let them play Monday
night? I don't think that's been done before. I'm sure it will be
the day after or the week after."
Either way, Shanahan believes in his running back, who signed a
five-year, $22.5 million free agent contract that included $12
million in guarantees this offseason after the Titans released him
in a cost-saving move.
Shanahan said Henry passed a lie detector test and a recent hair
sample taken from Henry came back negative for marijuana.
"All the tests except the one has come back negative,"
Shanahan said, referring to a urine sample taken from Henry as part
of his involvement in the NFL drug program. "Let's give him a
chance to have his day in court."
Henry, who had been suspended for four games in September 2005
for violating the league's substance abuse policy while in
Tennessee, was weeks away from cycling out of the drug program when
a random test came back positive.
Henry sued the NFL to keep from being suspended for a year. He
contends the league violated its substance abuse policy by not
allowing his expert to be present for the testing of his urine
sample.
The lawsuit is separate from his hearing this week in Phoenix.
Henry led the league in rushing after the first month of the
season, but he's been dealing with bruised ribs and an aching knee
that has kept him out of two games. He hasn't scored a touchdown
since Week 3.
He had 433 yards after the first four weeks, including three
100-yard games, but has rushed for just 147 yards since.
Henry has made other news off the field, too. In August, court
documents in a Georgia child support case revealed that Henry, 28,
has fathered nine children by nine women in four southern states
and has been ordered to pay child support for seven of them. He
also had to borrow money from the Titans to fulfill one of those
judgments, according to court records.
Henry has preferred to keep his focus on the field, but he's
been unable to get carries consistently because of his health. He's
going to get an MRI this week on his swollen left knee.
Henry wanted to play Sunday. Shanahan instead went with
undrafted rookie Selvin Young, who rushed for 109 yards and his
first NFL touchdown in a 27-11 win at Kansas City.
"Before the game, if you would have gotten a close-up of me, I
had tears coming out of my eyes," Young said. "It has just been
so long and so much dreaming, wishing and working hard. I feel
blessed."