This is indeed a fascinating article.  It somewhat gives some of us a "closure" regarding his horrific death.  I never knew the specifics about this until this morning.

Granted, after 2003, he probably would have not played for the Reds again however we gave him a shot and the Reds should be honored that some of his life was spent with them.  I liked him back then and would have really liked to see what he would have been able to do in 2004 and beyond had this tragedy never taken place.  

To my recollection, during one point or another in that season, we had an occasional glut of outfielders with Dunn, Jr., Kearns, and Pena.  More than likely, he probably would have been playing somewhere else the next season but, in everything I've read about him since that year, I loved his attitude toward baseball.  

We, as fans, should also be both honored and appreciative that we got to see Dernell play for our Reds.  We all need to live our lives as each day may be the last because you never know.  As the article says, there are so many "ifs" that we will never know what may have been.

Thank you, Dernell, and thank you, Officer Dibble, for posting this great article!