Bengals' Johnson is no Owens clone

[oldschooler]

Bengals' Johnson is no Owens clone

By Ashley Fox

Inquirer Staff Writer

It would be easy, given the excessive drama coming out of Cincinnati, to say that Chad Johnson is simply a younger version of that guy who wore No. 81 for the Eagles. The Bengals wide receiver, who's becoming the talk of the league, is as big a ham bone in the end zone as any player in the National Football League. Johnson has skills, wants the ball, thinks his team is better when he's active and involved, and is driven and dedicated to win.

But unlike that No. 81, Johnson is not all about himself. Emotional? Yes. Selfish and self-absorbed? No. And there is a big, big difference.

To recap: Last week, in the fallout of the Bengals' 31-17 home playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, there was a report on profootballtalk.com that Johnson had gotten into an altercation at halftime with head coach Marvin Lewis and receivers coach Hue Jackson. According to the report, Johnson was frustrated at the lack of balls getting thrown his way, even though the Bengals had a 17-14 lead.

Johnson reportedly swung at Lewis and Jackson and had to be restrained by a teammate. Afterward, he took the field and caught two of the three passes thrown his way to finish with four catches for 59 yards.

While Lewis and Jackson have been mum on the matter, Johnson held a news conference Tuesday night in a hallway inside Paul Brown Stadium to deny the report.

"It's false," Johnson told reporters. "None of this is true. I've never had any problems on or off the field in five years... . There's never been a confrontation, ever, and especially with a coach."

Now, it is never appropriate for a player to get into fisticuffs with his coaches. But one can certainly sympathize with the frustration Johnson must have been feeling.

On his team's second offensive play of the game, Johnson's starting quarterback, Carson Palmer, went down with a severe knee injury. All of the Bengals had to know that not only would Palmer not finish the game - the franchise's first playoff contest in more than a decade - but he would be out for some time.

Jon Kitna is a decent backup quarterback who has experience as a starter, but he's not Carson Palmer, nor had he had the repetitions in practice or in games to build the type of rapport quarterbacks need with their receivers to be successful in the postseason.

Johnson had to know the Bengals, who had a marvelous regular season, were in trouble. He had to be frustrated. Everyone did.

In light of the alleged incident, Johnson has been likened to Terrell Owens, who is a good friend of his. It has been suggested that Johnson could rip apart the Bengals locker room the way Owens did to the Eagles. The players share the same agent, which doesn't help the perceptions.

While he talks trash and draws attention to himself with creative touchdown celebrations a la Owens, Johnson cares what people think about him. He wants to be liked, and, more important, he acts in ways that will endear himself with his peers, and his coaches, and the reporters.

Owens might want to be adored - and boy, was he ever after last year's Super Bowl performance - but he clearly wasn't willing to continue to do the work that would bring more adoration. Instead, he got so worked up about his contract and about perceived slights from teammates that he imploded. He could not harness his resentment, and he took it out on Andy Reid, Brad Childress, Donovan McNabb, Hugh Douglas and others.

In response to the Internet story, Johnson didn't hold an impromptu news conference outside his home, shirtless and lifting weights. He went to the Bengals' stadium. He didn't have his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, speak for him. He spoke for himself.

Johnson's road could be dicey. He had an issue with Palmer during an October game at Jacksonville, when he caught five passes for 52 yards and the Bengals lost. But Johnson didn't let that incident fester, and he finished the season third among receivers with 1,432 yards, and nine touchdowns.

A terrific talent, Johnson seems to have a strong enough sense of self to understand he is in a good spot with the Bengals, who are optimistic Palmer will recover from knee surgery in time for training camp. And if he needs an example of how not to handle himself in times of crisis, all Johnson needs to do is look at the man who used to wear No. 81 for the Eagles.

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily...es/13627346.htm

[NJ29]

Good article. Thanks for the link.