Thursday, August 14, 2008

And since the NFL won't be adopting an XFL-like "Wear what you want to wear on the back of your jersey" policy anytime soon, Chad's got two options: 1) Wear "Ocho Cinco" on the back of his jersey and pay massive fines every time he does it, or 2) actually have his name legally changed to "Ocho Cinco."
According to the NFL, Chad has "taken the first steps in the state of Florida toward legally changing his last name to Ocho Cinco."
I don't know what to tell you here. This isn't a normal guy. Maybe that's good, maybe that's bad ... I'm in no position to judge. As I've said before, I believe that Chad just likes to make noise with his mouth, and has little or no concern for the meaning of the words that might come out of it (and here is more bizzare evidence of that).
If the name change did actually happen, I don't know if I could bring myself to actually call him Ocho Cinco. On one hand, people have the right to be called whatever they want, but on the other hand, I don't feel like I'm doing Chad Johnson any favors by indulging his megalomaniacal whims.
You know, If your child comes to you one day and says, "Daddy, I want to be called 'Xontar, the Andromeda Galaxy's Prince of Pounding Spaghetti-O's'," I don't think it's in the best interests of the child if you enroll him in school as "Xontar, the Andromeda Galaxy's Prince of Pounding Spaghetti-O's."
He's a kid. It's a phase. And I'm not sure that we're dealing with any greater emotional capacity here with Chad.

Paul Egbele