Henry began by praising the way Micah Richards handled his early retirement, with the former Manchester City star revealing his own struggles on CBS’ Champions League broadcast.
Thierry Henry chose to praise Micah Richards’ resilience after early retirement – leading to a deep and honest conversation (Image: CBS Sports)
Thierry Henry hailed Micah Richards as “his favorite person” on CBS and made an emotional statement about his resilience after injury forced him into early retirement, which led to him taking to drinking.
The former Manchester City and Aston Villa defender has become a regular fixture with pundits. One of his initiatives is with American broadcaster CBS Sports, where he often plays a leading role alongside Henry and Jamie Carragher in their Champions League coverage.
Presenter Kate Scott, who is famous for teasing Richards when she introduces her, asked Henry if she could fill in for him on Wednesday night before offering some emotional and kind words to his fellow pundits.
Henry hailed former Tottenham and Fulham star Clint Dempsey as “royalty in American football” before revealing his admiration for the 37-year-old, who has since moved on to Richards. The former City star admitted he didn’t know how he would have coped with having his career cut short before admitting he turned to alcohol to deal with his frustrations.
The Arsenal legend said: “I wanted to say something to you, but yesterday I couldn’t because it was a Kasper moment, but yesterday you made me realize something and I wanted to say it to your face. At the end of my career, I played for 10 years with extreme pain in both Achilles tendons, but I could have finished my career on my own terms, and you couldn’t do that.”
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“I have the utmost respect for you for dealing with this, but I don’t know how you handled it mentally. And yet you’re sitting here happily, lifting everyone’s spirits and making everyone happy. I’m trying to observe that, but I just wanted to tell you that because we don’t take you for granted.”
“Sometimes you might think you’re not being seen, and we’re watching you. For a very long time, my favorite person on this show has been Chloe. She’s the girl who helps me with my analysis, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind me saying you’re my favorite on this show.”
Thierry Henry and Mika Richards hug after the Frenchman’s speech (Image: CBS Sports)
Richards announced his retirement from professional football in the summer of 2019 after suffering a persistent knee injury, and last played for Aston Villa in October 2016. He spent more than two years in rehab, but ultimately ended his career at the age of 31.
The two then hugged and Richards said, “I’m just trying to look at the positive side of life and trying to uplift people.” However, he confessed that there were dark moments,
“I was definitely depressed. I didn’t deal with it,” he said. “I was drinking a lot to cover it up. I had a good friend who put my life into perspective. He said, ‘Are you happy? Is your family around?’
Richards claimed, “Even though the injury was bad at the time, I tried to look at it as a positive rather than a negative.”
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