Is it possible to say that without someone wanting to place me on a skewer, hang me over a blazing fire, and roast me until I reach maximum temperature?...Is it?
Showboats and attention-seekers are a turn-off. Some fans find a playful attitude towards the game of football to be charming or good entertainment—but it's not. Football can be entertaining minus the circus, minus the drama, and minus the arrogance that many of its players seem to exhibit today.
Back when the game was only about "wins" and "losses", players often played with more purpose and a whole lot more discipline on the field. There was respect for the beauty of the game—the fundamentals—no one was trying to pull the attention to the name or the number stitched across the back of his jersey.
Individual recognition ran a distant second to winning championships and playing for Super Bowls.
Nowadays, a guy has one good year and decides to hold-out for more money. Or, better still, rookies who have never played a down look to be treated like veteran pro bowlers—expecting a big paycheck before they even bother to grace a pro field.
It's a "screw you, pay me" mentality and it ruins the game for the purists who just want to see good football played on Sunday.
Of course, the natural argument against this thinking is to say that there weren't as many opportunities for individual recognition back then because there was no free agency, no internet, no Twitter, and no ESPN—guys played with anonymity back then because they were...well...anonymous.
During that era, one could probably list on one hand, possibly two, the number of players they would recognize minus their helmet, and most of them were quarterbacks. There simply wasn't as much of an opportunity to take advantage of ones own popularity as there is now.
Fair enough, but, even so, can you imagine former Washington Redskins great, Art Monk, wearing an Ochocinco jersey in the place of his No. 85?
Is it reasonable to argue that even the old school players would have liked a shot at the money that players of today make. After all, they weren't all just hoping to play for free—right. Of course, many of those guys will tell you they played for pennies back then and never could have dreamed of making as much money as even a veteran bench player does now—just ask Gale Sayers.
That said, can you think of a player today who would even bother to pick up a football if they didn't think it would net them a large paycheck in the future? Make no mistake, the mentality is different—no matter the era.
Is there anything wrong with a man making a living off his name? Of course not, Chad Ochocinco should feel free to do so for as long as he can. If he wants to go "Dancing With The Stars", find "The Ultimate Catch", or run around naked in public places (well, assuming he was given the clearance), then that's his business.
That said, changing his jersey to Ochocinco, tweeting during a preseason football game, and blowing off a voluntary conditioning program to enhance his popularity—popularity he wouldn't have without the game of football—seems like too much.
All of it is out of line.
Now, before the Ochocinco fans point out his great play and consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, please understand that the issue isn't his contribution to the Cincinnati Bengals but rather his need to always be maximizing his "brand". It's all Chad...all the time. That's a problem.
He has every right to remain Chad Ochocinco. He has every right to build his brand. He has every right to maximize his bottom line—in any way that he can. But, sometimes, it would be nice to look on the back of that No. 85 jersey and just see the name "Johnson" again and feel confident that his reason for scoring a touchdown was to get his team to the next level and not his face on the camera.
In the end, no one will likely care what he does this season because they, again, think it's entertaining and not hurting anybody. If anything, he's probably adored even more by his fans for the stunts he pulls.
However, if his numbers falter, if he gets an injury, or if his team doesn't do as well as most are hoping...what will you think of him then?
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