A Football Life: Chad Johnson

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(10-03-2016, 05:35 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I think a lot of people seem to focus more on the tail end of Chad's career rather than just his entire career. Once a player is retired and a few years go by, fans usually forget the bad ending and start to show appreciation for the overall career accomplishments.

A good comparison would be Brett Favre. He demanded his way out of Green Bay and even played for the Vikings (which would be like Chad in a Steelers uni). Packers fans hated Favre for several years, but eventually got over it and welcomed him back. It was classy. Meanwhile, our fans seem to hold much longer grudges over milder transgressions.

As for Chad's route running, I have to disagree Wyche. I don't think it's that black and white. I'd say improvising some routes is more common than some realize. I remember a quote from Drew Brees where he said he trusted Marques Colston to improvise at times to get open. He said not every WR was allowed to improvise, but he had chemistry and trust with his long time teammate.

Seeing how Chad and Palmer were together for 8 seasons, I'm sure they had that chemistry much of the time. While New England's offense is notoriously complex and precise, I think a huge problem for Chad was that - thanks to the lockout - he had to learn this complex and precise offense on the fly in a matter of weeks, while developing trust and chemistry with a new QB. I read back then that Brady will shut a receiver out if he's not getting it right away. I just think his failure in NE had more to do with a tough situation than "Chad was a sloppy route runner who always improvised".

I do think Chad improvised at times, but I don't think it happened as much as some think and I also think that some improv can be helpful. Fwiw, Chad's  route running has been praised by Hue, and Jon Kitna was successful with Chad as well. I doubt all that success happened with Chad just running wherever he pleased for 11 years.

 I think you mistook my dig at Brady for a jab at Chad.  It was even said on the show that "Tom expects you to be at a precise location at a precise time."  In other words, it doesn't seem that ol Tommy can make adjustments on the fly.  Palmer, obviously could.  Simmer down ya homer.....