Chad Javon Johnson (born January 9, 1978, in Miami, Florida) is an American football wide receiver. He currently plays for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He has also played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cincinnati Bengals. Johnson was drafted out of the Oregon State University by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 36th pick in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft.
On April 17, 2014, Johnson signed a two-year deal to play for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
He was also known as Chad Ochocinco.
- Source of Wealth: Football (NFL), Television
- Age (As of 2024): 46 Years of 2024
- Birth Place: Miami, Florida, USA
- Height: 6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
- Weight: 188 lbs (85 kg)
- Full Name: Chad Javon Johnson
- Nationality: United States
- Date of Birth: January 9, 1978
- Occupation: Reality TV Personality, Professional Football Player (Retired)
- Education: Oregon State University, Santa Monica College
- Children: 4 (Jicyra, Chad Johnson II, Chade, Cha’iel)
College career
After graduating from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1996, Johnson attended Santa Monica College in 1997, where he was a teammate of future Carolina Panthers star wide receiver Steve Smith. In 2000, he transferred to Oregon State University after being aggressively recruited by coach Dennis Erickson. Alongside future Bengals teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh, he led his team to an 11-1 season and a victory over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl that year. He also broke a school record for the longest touchdown reception with a 97-yard reception in a game against Stanford University.
He finished his sole season at Oregon State with 37 receptions for 806 yards and 8 touchdowns.
Professional career
The Cincinnati Bengals chose Chad Johnson in the second round (36th overall) during the 2001 NFL Draft.
2001-2005
Johnson saw moderate playing time as a rookie, catching 28 passes for 329 yards and one touchdown. In 2003, he set a Bengals franchise record by recording 1,355 receiving yards. In 2004, he had 95 receptions for 9 touchdowns and 1,274 yards, including 117 receiving yards in a 58-48 win against the Cleveland Browns. He later surpassed the record in 2005, recording 1,432 yards. He has led the AFC in receiving yards for four consecutive seasons, and he has made the Pro Bowl 5 straight times from 2003-2007.
2007
In the first game of the season, on Monday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens, Johnson scored the game’s first score on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer. Following the touchdown, he grabbed a jacket that resembles the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees’ jacket that said, “Future H.O.F 20??”. Johnson finished the game with 5 receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown. In the next game against the Cleveland Browns, he racked up 209 yards on 11 catches for 2 touchdowns in the 51-45 loss. This gave him a career total of 7,229 receiving yards, breaking the Bengals franchise record previously held by Isaac Curtis. The very next game against the Seattle Seahawks, Johnson totaled nine receptions for 138 yards as the Bengals lost again. Against the New York Jets, in which the Bengals won 38-31, he had 3 receptions for 102 yards and a rush for 15 yards.
In the fourth quarter of the Bengals Week 9 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Johnson was rolled off the field on a stretcher, with a reported head injury. He had dove out for a pass, with under a minute left in the 33-21 loss, and then was sandwiched by Donte Whitner and Coy Wire. Johnson was reported to be moving at the hospital. He finished the game with three catches for 48 yards. A CT scan performed to detect nerve damage came back negative, and he did not miss any games due to the injury.
Over his next two games, Johnson did not score any touchdowns or gain more than 86 yards. But he had a breakout performance in a November 25 win over the Tennessee Titans, catching a career high 12 passes for 103 yards and 3 touchdowns. This gave him over 1,000 receiving yards for the sixth consecutive season. He also surpassed Carl Pickens as the Bengals all-time leader in receptions.
By week 15, Johnson and Houshmandzadeh both gained over 1,000 receiving yards for the second year in a row. However, a loss to the San Francisco 49ers that week ensured the team would finish the year with their first losing season since 2002. Ocho Cinco finished the season with 4 catches for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns in a win over the Miami Dolphins, giving him 93 receptions for 1,440 yards and 8 touchdowns on the season.
His 1,440 yards set a new Bengals franchise record, breaking his own record of 1,432 in 2005. It was the third time that he had finished a season with a new Bengals record for receiving yards. His yardage was third most in the NFL, his receptions were 12th most, and his touchdowns were tied for 15th most in the league. However, he was passed up on for the 2008 Pro Bowl team, which instead selected his teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
He has played in 103 consecutive games since his rookie season in 2001.
2008
On January 13, 2008, Johnson was a guest on ESPN’s Mike & Mike radio show. During the interview, he addressed how the media and team treated him during the 2007 season, saying, “I was labelled selfish and cancer, and it hurt…Fingers were pointed at me this year. If the team and the organization want to further themselves (make the playoffs), I think you need to get rid of the problem…It hurt me. To do me that way and not to have my back. Things were said, and nobody came to my defence.” However, head coach Marvin Lewis commented on the issue by saying that the Bengals will not be trading Johnson. “He is a Cincinnati Bengal for quite a while,” Lewis said.
On February 4, 2008, Johnson was selected as the replacement for Patriots’ receiver Randy Moss in the 2008 Pro Bowl. The selection marked his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl selection. Johnson and teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh were both selections, marking the first time a pair of Bengals receivers have made the Pro Bowl in the same year.
Also on February 4th, Johnson’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, stated that Johnson will not sit out the 2008 season and will play, but would not say whether it will still be with Cincinnati or not. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that Johnson felt betrayed by Marvin Lewis and was privately threatening to sit out the 2008 season.
On February 14, 2008, Marvin Lewis announced that the Bengals have never discussed trading Johnson and will not unless the right deal is there. Reports stated that Johnson has been looking for a deal with the Washington Redskins. Lewis also stated that he has not spoken to Johnson since the last regular season game, yet when asked about the trade rumors, Chad said “Call me, Dan,” referring to Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder. On April 22, the Cincinnati Bengals’ declined a Washington Redskins’ trade for Johnson involving a first round 2008 NFL Draft selection and a 2009 NFL Draft selection.
On NFL Network’s NFL Total Access, Johnson said he did not want a pay raise from the Bengals, but rather a “change of scenery”. Johnson then refused to speak to reporters and missed the offseason workout programs and practices. On April 16, Johnson announced he wanted to be traded before the 2008 NFL Draft or as soon as possible afterwards. Johnson also said he would not attend any Bengals’ functions, mandatory or voluntary, despite what quarterback Carson Palmer said about Johnson reporting to the team’s mini-camp. The next day, April 17, teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh told ESPN that it would be best for the Bengals to trade Johnson. “I think eventually he’ll show up, but then you have to worry about how much of a distraction he’ll be,” Houshmandzadeh told ESPN.
On June 3, nine days before the opening of the Bengals’ mandatory minicamp on June 12, Johnson told ESPN The Magazine that he would be returning to the Bengals for the camp, saying “Am I coming back? Of course I am”. Johnson’s agent Drew Rosenhaus, confirmed reports that Johnson will indeed show up to training camp and honor his contract. On August 5, Johnson returned to practice after his ankle surgery on June 18.
In the Bengals’ August 17 pre-season game against the Detroit Lions, Johnson suffered an injury to his left shoulder and did not return. Initial reports were that it was a mild separation, which was later echoed by Marvin Lewis: “We’ll be able to treat it conservatively, and he’ll have to get his strength back in it. It came out and went right back in on the field.” A later examination revealed that he had actually suffered a partial tear to the labrum. However, he plans to play the entire season and stated that he had spoken with the Cleveland Browns’ Kellen Winslow, Jr. and Donte Stallworth and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Brian Westbrook, all of whom have played with a similar condition. Johnson stated that “I’m lifting my normal weight. I do everything normal now. Everything. It’s been what? Eight days? I’m back to normal.”
2011
In the 2011 offseason, he was traded to the New England Patriots where he restructured a 3-year deal.
He was released by the Patriots on June 7, 2012, after only catching 15 passes in his lone season with the Patriots.
2012
On June 11, 2012, Johnson signed with the Miami Dolphins, before being released on on August 12, during his arrest the previous night.
Bengals franchise records
Johnson holds the following records in the Bengals organization:
- Most receiving yards in a season (1,440)
- Most receiving yards all-time (8,365)
- Most receiving touchdowns (49)
- Most receiving yards in a game (260)
- Most seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards (6)
- Most touchdown receptions in a game (3, tied with several other players)
“The List”
During the 2005 NFL season, Johnson announced that he would keep a checklist, entitled who Covered 85 in ’05, that would evaluate the defensive backs that successfully managed to cover him. On November 2, 2005, Marvin Lewis, the Bengals head coach, replaced Johnson’s list with another one entitled, Did 85 do everything he could to lead his team to victory 11-6-05. The list, an obvious parody of the original, asked several questions regarding Johnson’s performance both on and off the field. According to the Bengals’ official website, the list was aimed to galvanize the Baltimore Ravens, whom the Bengals would play in four days. Johnson was not pleased with the new list, as he had developed a superstitious faith in the older list. He had a stellar performance during the game, prompting the return of the original list.
In 2007, Degree and Yahoo! created an online version of his checklist at TrashTalk85.com The checklist allows fans to vote for which NFL quarterback Johnson would like to play catch with the most. Every vote helps him raise money for his charity project,”Feed the Children”.
Name change
On October 25, 2006, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, when his last name was still Johnson, he announced that he would prefer to be called “Ochocinco” (“8-5” in Spanish). During warm-ups for the October 29, 2006 game against the Atlanta Falcons, the back of his jersey read “Ochocinco” instead of “C. Johnson”. Quarterback Carson Palmer ripped the label off the jersey to reveal the usual “C. Johnson”. According to ESPN, Johnson was fined $5,000 for the stunt (pending appeal) despite the fact that Johnson did not wear the “Ochocinco” name tag during the game.
He legally changed his name to Chad Javon Ochocinco on August 29, 2008, until July 24, 2012, when he change his last name back to “Johnson”. The NFL and the Cincinnati Bengals decided to allow him to have it on the back of his jersey.
In the media
Johnson appears on the cover of EA’s NFL Street 3. He is the main adversary in the game, and narrates the tutorials with Clinton Portis and Byron Leftwich.
Personal
Johnson is a cousin of former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson and current NFL cornerback Samari Rolle.
Johnson has four children: Jicyra, Chad Johnson II, Chade and Chaiel.
On May 5, 2007, Johnson was sued for allegedly not giving away a Lexus that was supposed to be raffled off. The suit added two plaintiffs that claimed that they have won trips from Johnson (one to Europe; one to Hawaii), that Johnson never awarded.
On June 9, 2007, Johnson raced a thoroughbred racehorse over a furlong (220 yards / 200 meters) for charity. Johnson, given a 110-yard (100-meter) head start, beat the horse by twelve lengths.