Chad Johnson

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Chad Johnson Has Officially Changed His Name to Ocho Cinco!

By pragerd on | From thesportsspectator.com

Ridiculous.

Yahoo Sports

My Take:

Chad has changed his name to Chad Johnson Ocho Cinco, to correspond with his self appointed nick name and jersey number. For those who don’t speak Spanish (you should really get on that because there will be a majority of spanish speakers in the US by 2050), ocho cinco means 85.

I think we can all agree that Chad Johnson is not the most stable or sane individual. What I love most about his decision is how it directly counters football ideals of teamwork, sacrifice, and being a nameless work horse behind a helmet. This little publicity stunt will gain him more notoriety than having a ridiculously good season.

Remember Warren Sapp’s comments in 2003, when he called the NFL a “slave system?”. Now, I am not saying that I agree with Warren Sapp’s idea that athletes making close to 30 million dollars a year can be compared to slaves in any way. I hate to say it, but there is something to his larger argument. There is no doubt that most players (although millionaires) are exploited and dehumanized, hidden behind their helmets killing themselves for white owners. In the NFL, there are constant tensions between individual desires and team sacrifices. I really wish that Warren could have been more eloquent in his assesment of the league and talked about race, greed, and the tensions between individualism and team success in a more eloquent way. You can’t have it all though.

In any case, I kind of love Chad’s decision. By changing his name to Ocho Cinco he is making a statement, taking control of his name and his football career. He is branding himself, becoming a character rather than just an unknown football player. Is this a responsbile thing to do? Is it the best thing for the Bengals? Absolutely not, but it is definitely the best thing for Chad Johnson Ocho Cinco. He is setting himself up for endorsements, marketability, an analyst job, and who knows what else when he can’t play football anymore.