Gotta love Chad

[Jeremy Piergallini]

Q&A with Chad Johnson
Chatty Chad at it again; WR respects Owens' talent, if not his ways

By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer

Question: Chad, how you doing?

Answer: I can't be covered. I can't be stopped. I got tickets to the Promised Land. Now what?

Q: What do you think of Owens' situation?

A: I'm still on his side. He is a player. He is out-performing what he is making. He is top-three in the league. When it comes to the salary, I believe it is the base that tells you what you are worth. And it is not up to what he has done. To take care of him would be the right thing to do, because you know what would happen with a happy No. 81 (Owens) out there. You already know what will happen. Why not give it to him?

Q: Where do you stand in the rankings of the top receivers?

A: Every time they talk I'm in the top five. I'm not satisfied until I'm No. 1. And I'm the young buck of everybody (Marvin Harrison, Torry Holt, Randy Moss and Owens) ... so I'm still learning.

Q: Could you imagine going through training camp without talking to your quarterback, like Owens and Donovan McNabb?

A: I couldn't do it. I'm the comedy here. I'm the trash talker. Me not saying something, something's wrong. It's impossible. You have to be on the same page and have conversation.

Q: Have you ever told Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski, like Owens told Brad Childress, not to speak to you unless you speak to him?

A: Yeah, right. You know my personality is not like that. It's not me. I couldn't take that route.

Q: You seem to get exasperated every time a pass doesn't come to you in practice or a game. Why?

A: Every receiver should expect the ball to go to him every time. That is why I am consistently open. I'm always expecting the ball. If it doesn't get there, I'm still working. It shows up on film. The coaches know I am doubled (covered by two defenders). ... You still want the ball. Consistently winning when it's not coming to me is the key.

What receiver would you want on the team who doesn't want the ball all the time? That's not good, especially in tight situations, which is when I get really hungry.

Q: Run after the catch has been the receivers' theme this camp. How have you progressed in that area?

A: I'm getting good at it. I've studied P-Dub (teammate Peter Warrick) a lot, visually. He was only out there one day, and I was, "Right, I've got that now." T.J. (Houshmandzadeh), too, he is superb after the catch.

Q: What is the key?

A: Get fast. When I run routes, I get fast right away to get open. But the continuation Peter and T.J. have is they get fast after the catch. I'm more of a catch, then my body relaxes, I still get it done. But if I can continue the same energy that I use to get off the line and get open, the sky's the limit for the type of numbers I could put up. It's real small stuff.

Q: Say you ask the average fan, "Who are the best wide receivers in the game?" How bad do you want them to say Chad Johnson?

A: Ask them. They're going to say, "Chad." No matter what state you're in, ask them.

[Chip R]

Wait till next year when he wants a new contract.

[CrackerJack]

Wait till next year when he wants a new contract.

Yep, and the Bengals won't give it to him most likely, and it might get ugly.

Unlike baseball there's no guaranteed base salaries in the NFL (can cut a player at any time) so there's some merit to asking for a better contract at any point you out-perform it's value based on what others are making at your position.

So the Bengals want the player to honor the contract they signed, but there's no honoring the contract by the team/club if they don't want to, so it's a double standard.

Mike Brown's comments never address that of course.

[Chip R]

Yep, and the Bengals won't give it to him most likely, and it might get ugly.

Unlike baseball there's no guaranteed base salaries in the NFL (can cut a player at any time) so there's some merit to asking for a better contract at any point you out-perform it's value based on what others are making at your position.

So the Bengals want the player to honor the contract they signed, but there's no honoring the contract by the team/club if they don't want to, so it's a double standard.

Mike Brown's comments never address that of course.

Absolutely. I'm no Bengals fan but I'm guessing that if Johnson holds out next year or starts talking about renewing his deal, he won't be Chatty Chad any more but Big Mouth Chad.

I heard something interesting the other day on the radio. This guy said that NFL players don't want guaranteed deals since they can make their money with the bonuses they give out.