The cable channel and NFL Films chose one of the league’s least-successful teams of the last 18 years for its next “Hard Knocks” training camp series. Last year, the Dallas Cowboys were the ones followed through training camp.
HBO started the program in 2001 with the Baltimore Ravens. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore then, so he’s familiar with how it works. Still, television executives had to do some arm-twisting to get the team to go along.
The Bengals have only one winning record since 1991, when owner Mike Brown took over. One intriguing subplot will be how Brown, who shies away from cameras, comes across in the episodes. Brown didn’t attend a news conference about the show.
If there’s a better fit for “Hard Knocks”, I’m hard pressed to think of it. Having the opportunity to be filmed on a daily basis should make Chad Ocho Cinco’s day and maybe get him to stop crying (literally) about wanting to get traded.
Coach Marvin Lewis said at the Bengals’ pre-draft presser Tuesday that Chad Johnson will not be traded.
“Chad’s not getting moved,” Lewis said. “I don’t know why people continue with the speculation.” The Bengals reportedly haven’t even been offered a third-round pick for Ocho, who is allegedly “crying” again to get out of Cincy.
There’s a good chance that the Bengals can’t move Ocho Cinco because nobody wants to give up a second or even third round pick to acquire him. And if a team did cough up a second or third rounder for him, they’d have to hope that he stays motivated enough to win.
The bottom line is that Ocho Cinco’s trade value has never been lower. He’s 31 years old and is coming off a poor year. If you were the GM of an NFL team, would you want to give up a second round or even third round pick for him? I wouldn’t, especially considering the draft is deep at the receiver position this year.
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Chad Ocho Cinco is unlikely to be traded this offseason by the Bengals
The primary people, agent Drew Rosenhaus and Ocho Cinco, are not saying anything. Last year, both were telling every media outlet within shouting distance that they wanted out of Cincinnati. This year Rosenhaus is staying true to his word by working behind the scenes and staying quiet.
According to ESPN.com, the Bengals’ salary-cap hit would be $4.87 million. It is a high figure, but not a crippling amount that might preclude a trade from happening.
Whenever he’s been asked, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis has said he expects Ocho Cinco to be here and that he should have a good season. But at the league meetings a couple weeks ago, Lewis also said something that can be construed as a personal challenge to Ocho Cinco:
“In order to get back to being the Chad Johnson that everybody feared, he was a guy who worked very, very hard at his craft. And if you don’t do that, it falls away very quickly and people forget about you.”
So will Ocho Cinco be traded? Unlike last year, when there was a zero percent chance, it’s slightly possible. There is only one person who is going to make the final decision, and that is club president Mike Brown.
Considering Johnson is coming off one of his worst seasons of his career, is already 31 and didn’t show up to voluntary workouts, why would any team give up a high draft pick for him? Anyone who thinks the Bengals will be able to get a first or second round pick for him at this point is dreaming.
The roller coaster ride that is the Cincinnati Bengals’ 2008 season continues as Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson will be deactivated for tonight’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers for violating a team rule.
The Bengals made the announcement in a terse statement delivered here from the team’s downtown hotel and said there would be no other announcement until after the game.
With wide receiver Antonio Chatman on injured reserve, the Bengals are looking at starting Chris Henry or Glenn Holt in place of Ocho Cinco, and it looks like rookie Andre Caldwell could get some time after practing Tuesday for the first time since he got injured against the Steelers Oct. 19.
Ocho Cinco couldn’t be reached for comment.
Even he has seemed surprised at times at how well he has behaved and has said all the right things despite the most frustrating season of his career that began with arthroscopic ankle surgery and has continued with a separated shoulder.
As late as Tuesday he said, “Regardless of who the opponent is, my mind is really set to approach each game the same way, in the same positive manner and when the opportunities come, just make the plays.”
The Bengals must not have filled their quota this year for suspending players. This team needs to break out the biggest broom they can find and do some major cleansing this offseason. Blow the whole thing up and start over.
Clearly, this is an upgrade for T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry, and probably a downgrade for Ryan Fitzpatrick. Housh is a solid play, but I wouldn’t want to start Henry against a very good Pittsburgh pass defense. Still, if you’re desperate, Henry became a viable spot starter with Ocho Cinco out.
They’ve put their fans through misery this season, but for at least one week the Cincinnati Bengals gave them something to cheer about. The Bungles notched their first win of the season on Sunday, beating the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars 21-19.
Amazing what a team can do when its defense plays well. Things got hairy in the fourth quarter, but the Bengals defense played its best game of the season by continuously coming up with huge plays all afternoon, including stopping the Jags on a 2-point conversation that could have forced overtime.
What happened to Jacksonville? This was supposed to be a Super Bowl contender and they can’t even beat a winless Bengals team. Not only that, but they allowed former Bears’ castoff Cedric Benson to rush for 104 yards and a touchdown, Ryan Fitzpatrick to throw for two scores and Chad Johnson (who had been non-existent before today) to snatch two score his first two TDs of the season.
Everything that worked so well for the Jags last year is working against them this year. David Garrard hasn’t been as sharp, the running game hasn’t been as productive and the defense isn’t as dominant. Jack Del Rio has his work cut out for him in getting his team back on track. It might be too little too late, however.
Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson says that he has so much respect for the Cowboys that if he scores on Sunday, he’ll kiss the Dallas star.
So what happens if Johnson, who only has one touchdown this season, scores against Dallas?
“I’ve got so much respect for y’all,” Johnson said. “If I score Sunday, I love Dallas so much, I’m going to take my helmet off, get a fine and kiss the star.”
Terrell Owens can fill Ocho Cinco in on what happens when a player disrespects the star.
Whether it’s a few breakout wide receivers, a suddenly mature quarterback or an out-of-nowhere running back, Week 1 of the NFL season always has its share of surprises. Here are a few of the bigger revelations from the first weekend of action along with what they might mean in the larger scheme of things.
Michael Turner ran roughshod over the Lions.
Most people were probably expecting a pretty good game out of Turner against Detroit, but I don’t think too many fantasy owners had “The Burner” racking up 220 yards (10.0 ypc) and two touchdowns in his Atlanta debut. The Falcons’ offensive line opened up monster holes for their RB, and unfortunately it’s not always going to be this easy. Turner will be tested against the Bucs this week before another nice matchup at home against the Chiefs. Going forward, Turner looks like a solid RB2, though he might have the occasional bad game when a team jumps all over the Falcons in the first quarter.
Jay Cutler shredded a good Raider secondary.
I was very high on Cutler heading into the season figuring that a guy who could throw 20 TD while losing 30 pounds (and a lot of strength) due to undiagnosed diabetes would be a good candidate for a breakout season now that his illness is under control. He did play the Raiders in Week 1 (never a good gauge) and shredded what was supposed to be a pretty good secondary for 300 yards and two scores. And that was without his top WR, Brandon Marshall. He looked comfortable and in complete control of the Denver offense, which looks like it could be one of the best in the league. I think Cutler has a great chance to finish in the top 5 this season, which isn’t bad for a guy that was available in the 7th round.
Don’t expect to see Chad Johnson Ocho Cinco wearing his new name on a jersey anytime soon. CNBC’s Darren Rovell reports on his blog that the former Mr. Johnson would be forced to buy out the stock of the 100,000 remaining “C. Johnson” jerseys before making the switch to “Ocho Cinco”. If Reebok asked Ocho Cinco to pay for the cost of making the unsold jerseys, the total could reach upwards of $4 million (or $50 million pesos).
Because Johnson changed his name so close to the start of the season, Reebok was left in a bind since they’d have to produce new jerseys and eat the old ones. That’s why the NFL has told Johnson he’d have to reimburse the company for the price of the jerseys. That’s not unprecedented, rookie linebacker Keith Rivers did it last week when he changed his uniform number. Of course, Rivers didn’t have thousands of jerseys with his name on it on sales racks nationwide.
Is this charade over with yet? The Bengals are a circus and Ocho Cinco is the ringmaster. I don’t know how Marvin Lewis keeps it together on a daily basis. Poor bastard.
It’s official: Chad Johnson is Chad Ocho Cinco. The NFL and Bengals will recognize Ocho Cinco’s name change this weekend when Cincinnati takes on the Ravens in Baltimore.
The receiver had his name changed in his home state of Florida last week. It’s a reference to his uniform number—Ocho Cinco means “eight five” in Spanish. When the NFL celebrated Hispanic Heritage month in 2006, he wore it on the back of his uniform for pregame warmups, but had to remove it for the game because of NFL rules—it wasn’t his real name.
The Pro Bowl receiver asked the media to start calling him by his new name this week. The Bengals couldn’t change the name on his uniform until the NFL gave permission.
In an e-mail to The Associated Press on Thursday, league spokesman Greg Aiello said simply: “It’s his legal surname.”
The receiver has declined to talk about the motivation for his attention-getting change. Coach Marvin Lewis said the receiver had been considering it since last March.
The change to Ocho Cinco is the receiver’s latest promotional move. He’s also known for his touchdown celebrations, his golden Mohawk for one season, his race against a horse and his list of defensive backs who failed to cover him.
This whole thing is absolutely ridiculous but as a sports writer I can’t wait to use this name in game previews and recaps. I know I’ll smile every time I write, “Palmer found Ocho Cinco in the back of the end zone for the Bengals’ go-ahead touchdown. Then Ocho Cinco got loose again in the Ravens’ secondary for a 15-yard gain. Ocho Cinco certainly didn’t take a siesta on Sunday as he torched the Ravens.” Ocho Cinco…ha!
According to Miami radio station 790 The Ticket, which is in Johnson’s hometown, the receiver has legally changed his last name to “Ocho Cinco.”
Johnson forewarned the public that a major surprise was coming during a recent interview with Chris McKendry on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
“A lot of people look at Chad Johnson and say he’s crazy and he does a lot of stuff, but I don’t think people really understand how smart I really am,” Johnson said. “So come Sept. 7, I believe when we play the Baltimore Ravens, I think that’s the game, there’s a surprise for everybody — for everybody. When I say something, it is what it is, just enjoy it. Because it’s going to last 16 weeks, plus some more.”
Could this be it? If the report is correct he should be able to wear his nickname on the back of his jersey without penalty, which he’s wanted to do for quite some time.
