Last week, Chad Johnson, the wide-receiver for the Cinncinnati Bengals legally changed his name to Chad Javon Ocho Cinco. Chad Johnson, or I guess I really should call him Ocho Cinco, first used his new name during the 2006 season. Cinco’s career numbers speak for itself, with a total of 49 TD’s, 559 receptions, and 8,365 yards. While his stats have been very impressive since 2003, his career has been littered with on the field antics. He is best known for his endzone dances, in fact, Fox Sports voted him the #1 showboat in sports in 2006. #85 loves all the attention he gets from the media and the public, whether it’s bad or good. He has also attracted attention from the media by sporting a bleach blonde mohawk, wearing his bling bling, and opening his big mouth. Obviously, this guy loves the attention, just as Dennis Rodman does.
Dennis Rodman won five NBA Championships on two different teams, the Detriot Pistons (1989 & 1990) and the Chicago Bulls (1996, 1997, 1998). As a power forward, Rodman was a fierce defensive player and a great rebounder. He was selected seven times to the NBA All-Defensive First Team and twice as an All-Star. Phil Jackson was recently quoted saying that Rodman was the best athlete that he ever coached. What a compliment to be given by the guy who coached many other great NBA players, such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, and Scottie Pippen. Nevertheless, Rodman is probably most remembered for his “bad boy” attitude and goofy appearances. On the field his is remembered for dying his hair multiple colors (sometimes at the same time), his tattoed appearance, his fights (both verbal and physical), and numerous other altercations. Let’s not forget that this was the same guy that kicked a camera man in the nuts after falling into the sideline. Off the field, Rodman is remembered for wearing a wedding dress, having affairs with celebrities (Madonna and Carmen Electra), claiming to be a bisexual, and wrestling in the WWF.
Getting back to the main idea behind this post, I believe that Chad Javon Ocho Cinco is the Dennis Rodman of Football. While Ocho Cinco has not done all of the things that Rodman did, he is undoubtedly an “attention whore”. Why else would he change his name to the spanish representation of his jersey’s number? Whether it be wearing a wedding dress or racing a horse, both of these supreme athletes will constantly be overshadowed by their off-the-wall antics.
Image used in Post
Ocho Stinko image courtesy of Flickr user Bearman2007 published under the CC license.
7 Comments
A fair enough comparison I think, both were exceptional at their craft, and each had personalities that were equally bizarre. This sort of attention grabbing is becoming more and more common in sports. For better or for worse, the antics bring the ratings.
The picture in this post is great by the way.
You raise a great point about the ratings. Yeah I liked the picture a lot. You should click on the Flickr user’s name, he has some good cartoons and he draws for the Cincinnati Beacon.
I agree that the comparison is fair. Personally I find Ocho Cinco’s antics more lighthearted and creative with two exceptions. I didn’t like when Chad claimed he knew tons of people who were better swimmers then Michael Phelps. That is both disrespectful and asinine. I also don’t like how he pouted this off season and demanded to be traded. Otherwise I love his imagination and enthusiasm.
However Rodman’s antics seemed divisive and unimaginative. With the one exception being when he married himself. That was pretty funny. Rodman painted himself as an outsider and a victim of a society that didn’t accept him. Johnson (Ocho Cincho) seems to enjoy his place in the NFL.
Does he get to put Ocho Cinco on the back of his uniform now?
yup
I can see lots of people buying t-shirts and knock off uniforms with that name on the back. This guy sounds like a riot.
He is pretty funny and damn good at what he does. I agree with Keeks, though, that ocho cinco’s demands to be traded because the team wasn’t doing well was pretty childish.