Q & A with Chad

[jjakq27]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...SPT02/508170338

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Q&A with Chad Johnson

Chatty Chad at it again; WR respects Owens' talent, if not his ways

By Mark Curnutte

Enquirer staff writer

GEORGETOWN, Ky. - The second-to-last day of training camp was a perfect time to catch a chat with Chad.

Chad Johnson, the Bengals' two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, is never at a loss for entertaining words. Tuesday was no exception.

Johnson switched agents this past winter to Drew Rosenhaus, who is engineering Terrell Owens' contract dispute with the Philadelphia Eagles. Could Johnson be next year's Owens, even though Johnson is signed through 2009?

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.

[skyline]

Why not give T.O. the money, Chad? I could think of a few reasons...

[rizzy]

Chad has to say that his agent is rosenhaus and I am sure he is going to want to out preform big time this year, so he can get his contract restructured after the season just like T.O.

Hopefully Carson throws to other recievers a lot more this year and not depend on Chad that much, so chad won't have a strong argument for a new contract at the end of the season.

[bengalboomer7]

If Chad performs on and off the field corectly he should get a raise. But there is a very fine line in that and with Chad's personality I think it would be hard for him to pull it off the "right way"

I also think with the T.O. saga and all the bad publicity his agent is getting that it might be a bad idea to try it next year.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

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.

Wow, that's funny. Clearly, CJ is repeating the Rosenhaus company line. So, Drew - that signing bonus, then? That was just because you're a nice guy?

Even the not-so-math-inclined media has caught on to Rosenhaus's funny numbers, and that TO's contract is only low if you don't consider his signing bonus. So now it's only base salary that matters? I'm sure the teams will love that - no signing bonus, no guaranteed money. Let's see how quickly he backtracks when it comes time to redo a contract.