Chad Ochocinco, the NFL receiver who forayed into the TV reality show realm, was just handed a pink slip Thursday by his team, the New England Patriots, reports The Boston Globe.
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Ochocinco, who in the past has been criticized for not concentrating enough on football and for being a publicity hound, got his latest — and now former gig — months ago, at the time publicly declaring that he had arrived in “heaven.”
According to a league source, the Patriots tried to trade Ocho but no one wanted him. Apparently, the 34-year-old is a marked man having earned a career-worst 15 passes last season. Reportedly, he also struggled to learn the offense and his reps in the 2011 preseason took a hit as a result. At the end of the day, there were one too many mental mistakes made on Ocho’s part, which put the kabosh on his playing time in many games, including the Super Bowl.
Drafted in the second round by Cincinnati from Oregon State, Ochocinco spent 10 seasons with the Bengals and reached the Pro -owl five straight years from 2003 to 2007 and again in 2009. He was the first player in NFL history to lead the conference in receiving four consecutive years.
Ochocinco, who changed his name from Chad Johnson which was his uniform number, 85, was perhaps better known for his quirky behavior that sometimes got his teammates, coaches, and even commissioner Roger Goodell, whom he called ”Dad,” miffed at him. He also predicted victories, sent gifts to opposing locker rooms, and invited fans to help him think up new end zone antics.
His touchdown antics, such as performing CPR on the football, dancing, and donning a Hall of Fame jacket only led to an accumulation of fines and an an NFL crackdown. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis grew so tired of Ocho’s annoying ways that he once called him ”Ocho Psycho.”
Watch Ochocinco’s highlights and end-zone celebrations here:
Ocho, who is addicted to tweeting, changed his Twitter feed to read, “Unemployed Black Guy,’ announcing his firing on the site and added a new avatar of himself sitting on polka-dot suitcases as he tries to thumb a ride at the airport:
Chad Ochocinco
@ochocincoThoroughly enjoyed the oppurtunity to play for the “Patriot” organization… fans were f**king wicked awesome, I wish all of you the best…
And speaking of reality shows, Ocho will be starring in yet another one with his fiancee, “Basketball Wives” (BBW) villainess Evelyn Lozada. The VH1 spin-off show, entitled “Ocho and Eve” has caused quite a stir, with many petitioning its creators not to air the show because of the violence that Lozada has demonstrated on “BBW.”
Oddly enough, in “support” of her man, Lozada posted on Ocho’s Twitter site a real dig in response to his firing:
Chad Ochocinco
@ochocinco
#Ether RT@EvelynLozada: Aww baby you got cut@ochocinco I got your back! I’m the bread winner now, which means I make the rules!
In his career, Ochocinco has caught 766 passes for 11,059 yards and 67 touchdowns. So will he really be put out to pasture? Well, not according to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who told Fox News, he is “in the process of gauging interest from potential teams.”
Good luck, Ochocinco!
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