C. Trent Rosecrans Q&A with Chad Ochocinco

For those of you that didn't see it, and I apologize for being late, C. Trent Rosecrans sat down with Chad Ochocinco to discuss the upcoming season.

(The Interview)

First, I have to say that I love C. Trent Rosecrans and his work. I really believe that the entire city was dealt an injustice when he was terminated (laid-off) from his position as Bengals beat writer for the Cincinnati Post/1530 The Sports Animal. As a loyal follower of @ctrent, I find him to be very accessible and informative in regard to all things Cincinnati Sports (along with other topics.)

With this being said, I do not share the same opinion of Chad Ochocinco that he does. I realize that as a small "blogger" my opinion doesn't carry anywhere near the same weight as C. Trent, a professional in his field. However, I would like to give my opinion of Chad Ochocinco in the most unbiased way that I can.

About five years ago I was discussing the Bengals with my brother-in-law, a transplant Ohioan from Massachusetts that LOVES his NE Patriots. It must have been near the time T.O. was imploding in Philadelphia because the comparison of Chad and T.O. was brought up. I told my brother-in-law that I was happy that we had a fun-loving player like Chad Johnson on our team and was grateful that he wasn't like the T.O. with his negative antics that destroyed a football team from the inside out.

I remember him saying "he might not be that way now, but give it time ... he will." I laughed and told him he didn't know what he was talking about. Fast forward to the end of the 2007 season when Chad began his "media tour" where he slammed the entire Bengals organization ... I was wrong! Chad stole an almost identical page out of the Terrell Owens/Drew Rosenhaus "how to destroy a team and burn every bridge along the way" playbook.

As a lifelong Bengals fan I was sensitive to the comments that Chad was making, it hurt to hear him bash my beloved Bengals. Sure, most of the things that he was saying were ABSOLUTELY true, but I believe his comments were suited for closed doors rather than on the world wide web.

Now, let's fast forward to today. This offseason has been AMAZING! I don't believe I have ever been more excited for an upcoming season than I am this one. We have made some really nice FA moves with the signing of Coles, Tank Johnson, Roy Williams and Brian Leonard and an even better draft. Who wouldn't be excited to be on this team?

To be honest, I almost forgot about Chad ... and I didn't care. Then, all of a sudden, Chad bursts back on the scene begging the city of Cincinnati that he needs them to "embrace him" like they once did. This is where C. Trent and I disagree on Chad...

Everything I hear coming out of Chad's mouth is "for my real fans" this ... if you aren't a "real fan" that....what does that mean? The way I interpret those statements is: for the people that love my gold teeth and the way I run my mouth, I'm back. For those of you that value the Cincinnati Bengals as a team and were offended by my statements and still haven't forgiven me then kiss my ass.

In my opinion, the media has made it out like we (fans) are the bad guys for not embracing Chad like we once did. Like we are on some witch hunt to crucify Chad Johnson because we don't like him personally. I don't see it like that, the way I see it Chad needs to do a lot more than attend an OTA and roll into Cincinnati with a smile on his face before we will ever "embrace" him like we once did.

What he said hurt, while much of what he said was the truth, it still hurt. It felt like a slap in the face for everyone that has spent their hard earned dollar to go to a game or buy a Bengals t-shirt. Bengals fans hate losing, we've been through enough of it the last twenty years that we can't stand it anymore ... but doing what he did didn't make things ANY better, in fact, I believe it made them worse. This team is the laughing stock of the NFL ... and Chad didn't help with that.

My point is this ... with everything that Chad has said in regard to Cincinnati (including gripes with his contract) why shouldn't the people still be upset? As I said earlier, I was naive once too ... but I was wrong. I want the Bengals to do well ... not just one guy. I could care less about the amount of Pro Bowl players we have, I just want to win. We have guys on this team that have proven that they want to win...they have been here busting their ass to get on the field and contribute. We have signed FA's that WANT to be here, playing for this team trying to make a run at the Super Bowl.

Chad apologized ... that's good enough for me. I hope he has a monstrous season and helps this team make it back to the playoffs. I'm not going to go out and buy an "Ochocinco" jersey or anything, but at least he did apologize, which is more than Dallas and Philadelphia ever received. Just don't expect the city to just "embrace" him like they once did ... that's too much to ask.