Pretty lighthearted, funny moment last night during the Cincinnati-New England preseason game. Chad Ochocinco, who grew up playing both soccer and football until choosing to focus on the American version of the game in high school, kicked an extra point and kicked off last night. (Shayne Graham, the Bengals starting kicker, was out nursing an injury.)
And unlike many of his past antics, this one actually didn’t seem all that ridiculous, mainly because he didn’t look out of place as a kicker.
When you watch the video below, pretend I didn’t tell you who was kicking and just watch the flight of the ball. Looks any other extra point you might see. The kickoff (not in the video) was pretty good too, though a little short. It had nice hangtime but was caught around the 11-12 yardline.
My favorite part is the announcers, who are clearly amused by the whole thing, and at one point say, “He’s going to be hard to live with.” Something tells me they probably said the same thing often last season, but with a decidedly more negative connotation.
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Anyway, here’s the video:
Video: Chad Ochocinco Kicks Extra Point in Bengals-Patriots Preseason Game
While watching ESPN this morning they showed Bill Belichick and Marvin Lewis at their respective press conferences. Belichick was his typical droll, stoic self, but did say that Chad Johnson was “the best kicker out there” or something to that effect. Not sure if he was just trying to play a subtle motivational game with his own kicker, but I thought it was pretty interesting.
And Marvin Lewis looked like he loved it. What a change a year makes huh?
I’ve always liked Chad Johnson, but haven’t been too fond of his antics since becoming Ochocinco. Hopefully he can put a lot of the overtly selfish stuff behind him and go back to being one of the most dynamic, exciting, and fun players in the NFL. The last 18 months or so have seen him take it way over the top, but his attitude so far this year, and the video of him kicking the extra point above, seem a lot more like the old Chad Johnson. And that is much better for the NFL and certainly better for the Bengals.
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