Chad Henne participated in the Fin Cup charity golf tournament this week. And he told reporters that being a backup to Chad Pennington again all this coming season isn't necessarily a foregone conclusion."It was definitely a learning experience this year,'' said Chad Henne, the Dolphins second-round pick last year, who only got into one regular-season game his rookie season and led a 67-yard TD drive. "We'll see how it all plays out coming up this year. I would assume he'd be the starter at the beginning, but who knows, we'll see how it plays out.''
One might easily misinterpret this as some kind of threat towards Pennington. But keep in mind that Chad Henne is a robot from the 50's, and is incapable of emotion or of mincing words. He knows Pennington's injury history, and calculated the odds of him getting hurt again this season, and spoke accordingly. It's still a pretty badass statement from our future franchise quarterback. And you gotta love that shit. Henne knows he's got the arm, the skills and the balls to handle the position. And that's what you want from your leader.
Now some might say Henne should just go ahead and start this season so that he can start getting acclimated to the speed of the NFL, and that having him on the bench again will only hurt him. But that's not necessarily true. Henne can be much better served on the bench, learning from Pennington and taking in as much information as possible. This is his franchise. It's not going anywhere. And, as we all know, Pennington is teaching the robot everything he knows. When Henne's time does finally come, he'll be fully prepared.
Henne's ability as a quarterback won't be hampered if he waits another season behind Pennington. That's like saying plants don't grow in the jungle just because no one is there to witness it. Or like saying girls don't make out in their bras and panties after a slumber party pillow fight. Of course those things happen. It's just science.
