I find him funny and good for the NFL, but that's just me. He's harmless and fun to watch for the most part. Plus he tends to back it up with his play on the field. It's not like he's punching his hand through tv sets, getting busted for cocaine possession, or getting arrested multiple times.
Here is a good story on Chad from David Fleming on ESPN:
Chad Johnson sleeps with the fishes.
Flem File
And by that I mean at Johnson's offseason home in Florida -- the Bengals wickedly talented wideout has a custom-made arching glass bed canopy that doubles as an aquarium. Which, of course, is not to be mistaken with the 30-foot fish tank he built in his den. The one with the exotic blue-dotted stingrays buried in the sand underneath the three 50-inch in-laid flat-screen TVs that, when I was there, were showing "Talladega Nights" on an endless loop.
As chronicled through the years in this very space, I have spent my summers away from the NFL on some pretty bizarre and cool adventures. There was my summer of 2003 shadowing Mike Vick. There was my time spent working as an extra on the set of "Invincible". My visit to the center of the futbol universe: Manchester United's Old Traffor. My week touring Switzerland with Steelers QB and fellow Miami University product Ben Roethlisberger. And my visit to the ancient Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende with Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez.
But none of it prepared me for my strange trip into Chad's World.
In the end, though, what shocked me wasn't the giant five-horse fountain in the front driveway or the 6-foot red velvet "Alice in Wonderland" furniture pieces. It wasn't the cheesecake cooking in the kitchen like we were on the set of "Mad Men," the Lynyrd Skynyrd ring tone on his cell or the fact that before posing nude in his garage for The Magazine, Johnson told me he was seriously thinking about legally changing his last name to Ocho Cinco so the league couldn't touch him when he wore it on his game jersey.
"Maximize your opportunities in this game at all times and at all costs," Johnson said earlier this summer. "That's my motto. I'll give you an example. This brings all of what I am together into one thing: have fun, be original, stay a step ahead and maximize your opportunities. Here it is: I'm thinking about legally changing my last name to Ocho Cinco next season. Cool, right? The league, the announcers, the media, they would all be forced to refer to me as Ocho Cinco. From a money standpoint, think about how much I could make, because everyone would have to buy the jersey all over again. Think how much my team would make? Sales will skyrocket. Boom. It's fun. It's original. But if I do it I better perform."
No, like I said, it wasn't the oceanic surroundings that freaked me out. It was the realization that sometimes the ideal of what we say we really want from our stars is often wildly distorted by the NFL fishbowl, just like Johnson's household companions. And like him or not, the truth is, even if you're a Brett Favre disciple, reading a Vince Lombardi biography in Bart Starr's steakhouse, Johnson actually embodies much of what we want from the NFL at the dawn of the 2008 season.
We say we want production. Last year, Johnson had an "off" season, but still hauled in 93 passes for 1,440 yards (a personal best) and 74 first downs (tops in the NFL.)
We say we want toughness. Remember that "not-all-there" interview he gave a few years back after getting his bell rung in Cleveland? Last year, Johnson posted those numbers with a gimpy ankle. And this week after spraining his shoulder, rather than have surgery and sit, he chose to play while wearing a harness; the kind of thing Philip Rivers is being canonized for in San Diego. Yesterday, when reporters asked Johnson if he was OK, he dropped down and did 20 pushups on the locker room floor.
We say we want leadership. This summer everyone freaked and grumbled when Johnson demanded a trade because the Bengals weren't doing enough to get to the next level. But isn't that what fans have been complaining about for the past 17 years while the team has had one winning season and no playoff wins? The past three years under Marvin Lewis, the Bengals have finished 27th, 30th and 28th in total defense, and in its past 10 preseason possessions, the Bengals' first-team offense has produced eight punts, a pick and a blocked field goal. To fix everything, the team just re-signed NFL outlaw Chris Henry. Now, I ask you, under these circumstances is it leadership -- or cowardice -- to stick your head in the sand and say nothing?
And finally, we say we want the game to be fun, to be an escape. Do I even need to cover this one? In a super-puckered, ultra-uptight sports world being overrun by cold-fish personalities, market-researched stars and mind-numbing clichés (don't even get me started on the soulless stat geeks), thank goodness for the occasional living, breathing fallible and goofy human being and his Ohio River Dance, blonde 'frohawk, Pepto-Bismal delivery, HOF jacket, Michael Phelps challenge and salary-bonus-sized fish tank sleeping chamber.
"This game is about having fun but not being a joke," Johnson said this summer. "If it's not fun, why do it? It's never about being an a------. I'm just a humorous person and I let my personality come through in what I do. I don't mean any harm. I don't know why I rub people the wrong way. The key is doing your thing in a way that comes out right as far as the vibe and the energy. I do it right. And everybody is drawn to it and loves it and can't wait to see what I'm going to do next."
And whether you're willing to admit it or not, when it comes to this game you're just like me.
Hooked.
Chad is intelligent, smart and (to some) entertaining. As bucsbaby pointed out: At least he's not doing anything like beating up his girlfriend.
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"Central Ozarks Conference" and we always called it the COC.And for the record I have a man crush on Ocho Cinco! 
