On January 9, 2006, we reported on Johnson’s halftime escapades. The denials were swift, and unequivocal. The team said that it won’t comment on rumors. Johnson even held a press conference to proclaim that nothing happened. The Cincinnati media, which at the time was still under the impression that Ocho Cinco wasn’t a Grande Turdo, accepted his version as gospel.
“That sounds like drama,” Johnson said. “At halftime, I was getting an IV. Nothing happened.”
But then others began to corroborate our report, including guys like Dave Lapham and Jay Glazer and Boomer Esiason and Mark Curnutte.
Eventually, Johnson acknowledged that something happened, even though he still denied headlocks or swinging fists. (Most recently, Johnson admitted that Lewis at one point had to restrain Johnson.)
But the point is that Johnson created an unwanted distraction at the worst possible time, and his selfishness helped keep the Bengals from capitalizing on their only trip to the postseason tournament since Esiason led the franchise to a Super Bowl twenty years ago