Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported during Sunday NFL Countdown that the NFL prohibited receiver Chad Johnson from donning “Ocho Cinco” on his jersey because of a potential financial dispute with Reebok.

And, frankly, Reebok’s obsession over the possibility that some jerseys with outdated names and/or numbers might have to be sold at a deep discount (or, God forbid, donated to charity) could be undermining whatever goodwill is being derived from the company’s role as the league’s official uniform supplier.

Just this week, Reebok didn’t want to allow Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers to change his number from 58 to 55 until Rivers bought $11,000 in unsold jerseys bearing No. 58.  Also, Lions rookie running back Kevin Smith was told he couldn’t switch from No. 34 to No. 24.

Apparently, Reebok doesn’t want to keep the NFL contract.  Because we can guarantee that, once the ability to slap logos on shirts and pants and gloves and jock straps comes up for bid again, Nike and UnderArmour will be glad to include a term that they won’t piss and/or moan over unsold jerseys that probably cost a lot less to make than their retail price reflects.