Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson is continuing to make the media rounds, and he’s continuing to sound like a man who isn’t happy with his current contract on his current team.
Despite the opportunity to earn $250,000 in workout bonuses, Johnson said, “I will not be there for this off-season conditioning program,” in a short video posted at Current.com.
Johnson also appeared on NFL Network’s Total Access Tuesday night (watch here), and he gave bizarre, at times contradictory answers to questions about whether he’s happy with his contract with the Bengals.
“I don’t want no money,” Johnson said at first, but then he quickly switched gears and said, “Wait a minute, stop 85. It’s always about the money. This is a business. You play this game for a reason, because it’s about the money. We fill those stands for those owners because it’s about the money. Coaches want to win because you get new deals because it’s about the money. Players want to play at a very high level because you get money. … Chad continues to play at a very high level, so he can get that money. But right now in this situation, I don’t want any money from where I am. That’s not what I asked for.”
Asked what he thinks about continuing to play in Cincinnati, Johnson said, “We shouldn’t say anything about Cincinnati, period.” He then added that the ideal scenario for him would be “change. … Change of scenery. I need a fresh start.”
A Bengals spokesman responded to Johnson’s vow not to attend workouts by saying, “the sessions are voluntary.”
March 19th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
He is so overrated. He thinks he’s top 3 in the league, he’s between 8th and 12th at best. TO, Moss, Wayne, Harrison (healthy), Burress, Holt (healthy), Edwards, Fitzgerald, Smith, Andre Johnson are better. Colston and Houshmandzadeh are just as good as him. He needs to get over himself and shut up.
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March 19th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
does he really refer to himself in third person? who does he think he is, george costanza?
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March 19th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Chad’s not a top 3 WR? He’s 8-12? You must be watching games through dirty waters. How does a guy who is not top 5 lead the league in yardage? How does he have more receiving yards than any other WR since 2002? He must be so much worse than many of those you listed (Edwards? Stone hands much?) considering most of them are 1,000 yards or more behind him for that stretch.
No arguing that he needs to shut up, but he’s without a doubt a top 3, 5 at worst, WR in this league. Anyone who says otherwise is just mad because he consistantly lights up their team.
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March 19th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
there are a number of wideouts that could put up his numbers in that offense.
The guy’s a cancer. Intangibles have to be figured into how valuable of a player someone is. His are horrible. He drags that team down.
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March 19th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
The guy is a locker room cancer. No doubting his talent, but he is not worth the headache. The team doesn’t need him. T.J has better hands than him anyway. I used to like the guy but his attitude and his selfishness ruined it for me. You can’t win the big game with this guy tearing apart your locker room and undermining everyone
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March 19th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
The only time CJ ever lights teams up are when the games are against a bad opponent or meaningless. He racks up huge numbers in just a few games and is pretty much an afterthought for the rest of the season. I wouldn’t mind him leaving, I welcome it.
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March 19th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Ocho Stinko did not say he did not want more money, but he made it clear that he is going to be holding out and demanding to be traded or released. There seemed to be genuine distain for the Bungle organiztion in his tone at least if not his words. He just wants to win, and he knows the Bungles are going be in last place again with a fancy scmancy, nancy offense and no trace of talent or even scheme on defense. He puts up top 3 WR numbers, but that is because of his QB and the fact they have to score 40 to win.
I would not give the Bungles a bucket of urine if they were on fire, but in this case, I would be O.k. with the Ravens giving them a 4th round pick for him.
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March 19th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Since money supposedly isn’t the issue, let him pay the $8 mil cap hit out of his own pocket and I’m sure the Bengals will be more than willing to accommodate his trade request.
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March 19th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I thought the “sessions are voluntary” comment by a Bengal spokesman was priceless. It’s a PC way of calling Chad an A__Hole.
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March 19th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
preludetosmack, who cares about 2002 until now. OK, so Shaun Alexander is great by those standards. Johnson has a lot of yardage, but thats because the Bengals throw the ball 40 times a game. He does not have great hands, and he does not have that many TD’s. He is also one of the biggest cancers in the league, with Moss and TO you accept it because they can dominate a game by themselves.
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March 19th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
The guys in the locker-room should toss a blanket over him and beat the living crap out of him. Maybe then he’d shut up and fall in line.
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March 19th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
to : Jeremiah W
i agree with the chad comments and he deserves any crap he gets due to his actions but i kinda dont get the last half of your post. the bengals have not finished last in the afc north since 2002. and the bengals are 7-5 against the ravens during the same years. the begnals also swept two of those years and the ravens swept one of them. granted, the bengals dont have a super bowl, but be a little more fair.
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March 19th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Don’t care about 2002 until now? He was in the top 3 in yardage last year (ottomh I don’t remember if he was 2 or 3). And as to him only getting the yardage against crap opponents, Cincy plays Baltimore & Pittsburgh (top 5 defenses) twice a year. If DeAngelo Hall is worth a 2nd and 6th round pick, Chad would be worth more. 4th round pick? That’s retarded.
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March 19th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Name an elite receiver that doesn’t talk outside of Torry Holt or Reggie Wayne. Marvin Lewis let this get out of hand by not reeling Chad in early in his career. Don’t let how you feel about a player’s antics cloud how you see them as a player. he’s a top 5 wide out because he has superior athletic ability, great speed, good hands, and good route running skills. That’s why T. J. gets as many catches as he does. By the way, T. J.’s not exactly the most cordial guy in the world if you’ve ever paid attention…he just doesn’t showboat like Chad. Moss, Smith, Holt, T.O., Boulden, Fitzgerald, and Wayne…that’s it in his class. I’d put him right in there with the latter 3, ranking them at your discretion. Bottom line is that there’s little that a receiver can do to impact the entirety of a team. Look at Moss, sure he quit in Oakland, but nobody saw 23 touchdowns coming last season. All because he was on a team that could play defense, run the ball, and had a QB. right now, Chad’s only got a QB in that equation because they can’t run the ball and their defense has been horrible since he’s been a Bungal.
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March 19th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Johnson has 48 TD’s over the last 6 seasons (2002-2007), not good. He had 8 last season, again not good. That was tied for 15th, with Andre Johnson who missed 7 games. He racks up receptions and yards, but not TD’s. Last year was a typical season for Johnson:
95 yards and TD against Baltimore week 1
209 yards and 2 TD’s against Cleveland week 2
138 yards 0 TD’s against Seattle week 3
103 yards, 3 TD’s in a blowout win against Tenn week 12
131 yards, 2 TD’s against Miami in week 17
So 7 TD’s in 3 games, 1 in the other 13. He even dropped a game tying touchdown pass as time expired agaisnt San Fran week 15. Not an easy catch, but not that difficult either, and one a “HOF” receiver should make with the game on the line everytime.
He is not a top 5 receiver, not even close. I wouldn’t take him on my team no matter what the circumstances. He is a bigger cancer than both TO and Moss, with half the talent and stats.
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March 19th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Good WR or not, theres no excuse for this guy running his mouth like he has the entire off season. Talent wise he should be in the top 5, but the guy is a locker room cancer. You get a few of these on a team and the team goes nowhere. He just makes himself look worse by the day. The Bengals are not going to trade him and take an $8 million cap hit. That would make no sense. Apparently the coaching staff seems to tune him out so he will probably rot away all season. Good thats what he gets for being a jerk
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March 19th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Ocho is a complete nightmare. He has no clue how ignorant he is. Google Chad Johnson and kids and you will see where he has 4 by 3 different unmarried women and in 2005 an article where he ran over multiple kids (physically- not his-but him) to get to a camera. He is the self-proclaimed ‘entertainer’ who is the perfect fit for any team who can kickoff 80 yards. Sucking forever does not embarrass me as much as Marvin putting up with this crap. Cut him or put his dumbass on special teams and I will buy Chris Henry the latest version of Hooked-on-Phonics.
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March 20th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Seriously skirv, who gives a rat’s a** how many kids he has? And special teams, are you kidding?! He’s an elite reCEIVer not reTURNer, why do you think they won’t let him leave?
The same goes to everyone else who thinks he’s overrated. If the people who are there working with and evaluating these players day in & day out would rather chop off a limb than let him go, that should tell you something about who’s essential to their gameplan (i.e. he commands double-teams for a reason).
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