02-14-2016, 02:53 PM
(02-14-2016, 12:09 PM)fredtoast Wrote: He publically admitted that he did ont nwork out at all in the offfseason after '07 when he was trying to cry his way out of town. Then he put off ankle surgery until just before training camp so that he would not have to practice.
He went from being one of the hardest working bengals to a diva who cared abouyt nothing but his own fame.
I miss the old chad that worked hard. I don't miss the chad after '07 who didn't care about anything but his publicity and twitter followers.
Fred I've seen you mention before that Ryan Fitzpatrick was a terrible backup. I think that and a torn labrum in the preseason were by far the biggest reasons for Chad's dismal 2008 season. I don't think Chad quit on the field, and I don't buy that Chad didn't work out at all during the offseason. He probably just said that in an attempt to get traded. He never looked out of shape that year. He never got gassed.
Either way, even if those things are true, 2008 is the only season where you can make that claim. In 2009, Chad was the only Pro Bowler on a division champ that swept their division.
It seems like the folks who resent Chad the most only seem to remember the 4 win seasons of '08 and '10 and blame Chad for those years, which is silly if you actually think about all the problems we had. Then they forget about or disregard the '03, '05 and '09 seasons as if they didn't happen. The positives far outweigh the negatives, and I don't see why some people feel otherwise:
Positives
6x Pro Bowler
4x All Pro
4x led conference in receiving
2x Division Champ
Franchise records in career catches, yards, and TDs
Single game record 260 yards in a game
Most of his celebrations were fun to watch
He helped lift numerous blackouts and was always engaged and friendly with Bengals fans
Negatives
Asked for a trade in 2008 and followed it with a terrible season (with injuries and terrible QB play)
The TOcho show (which was very similar to AJ Hawk's podcast, which no one cares about)
Sometimes the goofiness was a little over the top
People are dismissing a stellar career filled with positives over 1-2 disappointing seasons and some petty stuff. It's silly. Packers fans forgave Brett Favre, and I think it was classy for them to do so. Why can't we forgive Chad Johnson? (and no, I'm not saying Chad is on Favre's level, but the situations are similar and both were great players for their teams)
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
