Ocho Cinco

[tommy]

Some things I'd love to see happen in response to Ocho Cinco, most of which of course could/would never happen:

1. a bunch of other guys around the league who wear 85 also change their names to Ocho Cinco, depriving Johnson of the uniqueness he craves.

2. Johnson get traded to another team that either has #85 retired or being worn by a Pro Bowl -type veteran who will not and should not give up the number. Ocho Cinco would have to wear some other number.

3. A bunch of guys on the Bengals and other teams change their names too. Imagine the announcer: "Nueve takes the snap, drops back. Rolls right, gets a good block from cuatro seis. Being pressured by siete nueve and siete uno. Doesn't see tres dos over the middle, tries to squeeze it in on the near sideline to ocho uno and it is . . . intercepted by cuatro uno and he will go all the way. . . Ay caramba!"

[sue71]

Hey look who decided to show his face. :)

[hc5duke]

2. Johnson get traded to another team that either has #85 retired or being worn by a Pro Bowl -type veteran who will not and should not give up the number. Ocho Cinco would have to wear some other number.
Detroit (Chuck Hughes) and St. Louis (Jack Youngblood) (source (http://www.nfl.com/history/retirednumbers))

I suppose he'll have to pull a reverse-Junior (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&id=2980474) and go by Ocho or Cinco (neither team has 8 or 5 retired).

[hc5duke]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AicOUNRF8pbBPTSPTbz8HaxDubYF?slug=ap-bengals-ochocinco&prov=ap&type=lgns

NFL says no

[tommy]

Hmm. Why is it Ocho's problem that the NFL may have marketing issues resulting from this or they may have a ton of Johnson jerseys now that they can't get rid of? Why do the NFL's marketing issues mean he has to wait to have his legal name on his jersey?

[hc5duke]

Hmm. Why is it Ocho's problem that the NFL may have marketing issues resulting from this or they may have a ton of Johnson jerseys now that they can't get rid of? Why do the NFL's marketing issues mean he has to wait to have his legal name on his jersey?

Definitely a weak excuse. If he had been traded, there would still be a bunch of leftover Bengals jerseys with "85 Johnson" on it. Next step for Johnson/8 5: become a Brazilian citizen. Then you'd be able to put whatever you want on your jersey!

[devildeac]

Definitely a weak excuse. If he had been traded, there would still be a bunch of leftover Bengals jerseys with "85 Johnson" on it. Next step for Johnson/8 5: become a Brazilian citizen. Then you'd be able to put whatever you want on your jersey!

But then he'd have to learn to play futbol:o;).

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

I suck at Spanish, but isn't it Ochenta Cinco?

[should_be_working]

After watching the bungals the other day, I, for the first time, am beginning to agree with all of chad's whining he did this off season. This team is bad, really bad, and i completely understand his desire to play elsewhere. Granted he could have whined and cried a little less annoying, but his will to be traded should be understandable.

Now a little more on topic: Chad has financial issues (apparently making millions a year isn't quite enough), so this whole name change is to sell a few more jerseys so that he can make a little more money. Too bad none of us cincy fans care to own his jersy, regardless of the name on it.

[bjornolf]

Hey, the NFL has a deadline. If you petition the league for a change of your name or number after that date, you have to buy back all of Reebok's printed jerseys if you want to change your info. If you are traded, that's not a fault of yours, so they don't penalize you. But if you just change it on your own, you have to beat the deadline each year. That's the rule for everybody, and has been for at least a decade. That's not just an Ocho Cinco (should be ochenta y cinco) rule.

[monkey]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AicOUNRF8pbBPTSPTbz8HaxDubYF?slug=ap-bengals-ochocinco&prov=ap&type=lgns

NFL says no

NFL says: "His momma call him Clay, I call him Clay."