It might be safe to say Chad Johnson is having the worst week…EVER!
News broke over the weekend that Johnson, formally known as Chad Ochocinco and Chad Johnson, was involved in a domestic violence dispute with his wife of roughly 40 days Evelyn Lozada. Lozada called the police on Johnson after he allegedly headbutted her and left a three inch gash on her forehead during an altercation that took place after Lozada found a receipt for condoms. Johnson (who originally claimed she headbutted him) was arrested, taken into custody and eventually released on $2,500 bond on Sunday.
Things only got worse for the wide receiver. He was already on thin ice with coaches and management of his new team, the Miami Dolphins. His worst fears were soon realized as the Dolphins cut the three time All-Pro on Sunday night. His VH1 realty show entitled “Ev & Ocho” starring himself and his new bride, was originally set to premiere on September 3. The show was pulled by VH1 on Monday, with the network citing the seriousness of the allegations against Johnson. To make matters worse, the Dolphins’ training camp is currently being profiled on the HBO series Hard Knocks, which airs on Tuesday nights. The behind the scenes access HBO had allowed them to capture Johnson’s meeting with head coach Joe Philbin, and last night the world witnessed Chad getting fired from his job.
This needs to be universally recognized as possibly the worst firing since this happened.
To make matters worse, Lozada officially hit Johnson with divorce papers yesterday, abruptly ending their relationship in the wake of Saturday night’s dispute.
Crappiest. Week. Ever. And it’s only Wednesday!
But things are not all bad for the man formally known as Ochocinco. In fact, given the nature of the alleged crime, Chad is actually in a pretty good spot. No athlete ever suspected of physically abusing their wife has ever been in a better position than he is now.
Why?
For starters, in the eyes of many viewers reacting on twitter and facebook, Johnson came off as a tragic hero on Hard Knocks (watching someone lose their job on TV tends to have that effect on a person).
Sidebar: I started to post the video from Hard Knocks, but soon realized it would inevitably be removed by the HBO police. Nevertheless, I encourage you to attempt to find the video online.
Maybe you shouldn’t try to find the video…this was kinda hard to watch.
Assuming the incident went down the way Lozada contends, Johnson obviously made a horrific mistake that is deplorable and reprehensible. Yet somehow being fired on national TV seemed to be a little too harsh for many people, and Johnson walked away with some sympathy points in his back pocket.
Chad waited only about 90 seconds into the conversation with Philbin before saying, “Coach, I’ve never been in trouble before.”
This statement is 100% true (at least since he’s entered the NFL)!
While often portrayed as a troublemaker due to his eccentric behavior, Johnson has been a model citizen. This incident is his only scrape with the law and aside from getting called into NFL (No Fun League) Commissioner Roger Goodell’s office a few times for stuff like this, he’s never had a problem with authority.
Credibility goes a long way in the court of public opinion. People tend to be fairly sympathetic to those who make one mistake, because we’ve all made mistakes. It’s the repeat offenders who incite our sense of moral indignation.
And speaking of credibility, Ms. Lozada is the one lacking it. Upon hearing about the episode with Johnson on Saturday night, many people took to twitter and held her equally (if not more so) accountable for the incident. This was due to the reputation Evelyn has fostered for herself on her hit reality show Basketball Wives. Evelyn is a no-nonsense, tell it like it is type of woman, and if you mess with her in any way, she will come after you!
Might this just all be for the cameras? Sure, but we can only go off of what she says about the show and how she carries herself on the show. Judging from that, we can only assume that she “keeps it so real” both on and off camera. If this is in fact the case, then she probably was responsible for the headbutting incident on some level.
This is in no way meant to defend Johnson or absolve him of his actions. But we must take all the ancillary factors into account when understanding this situation and its impact on his reputation.
Johnson has already taken steps to repair his image. He has released his apology statement on his website OCNN.com. Despite losing an endorsement, Johnson has come off contrite in both his meeting with Philbin and in his statement of regret. From a public relations standpoint, Johnson would be best served to continue to take the high road and not get into any verbal altercation with his soon to be ex-wife through the media. Also, donating time and or money to a women’s shelter in Miami would show that he understands the severity of his mistake, and with his charisma and influence, he could really make a difference and shed some light on a serious problem.
The last thing (and possibly the hardest thing) Chad has to do is get another job in the NFL, shut-up, play hard and perform reasonably well. While he struggled last year in New England, he still should be able to find another gig somewhere (have you seen some of these receiving corps across the league??). If he can get another shot, keep his mouth shut and play halfway decent, people will soon forget about this mess and file it away as an isolated incident.
By abusive husband standards, Chad could actually turn this around fairly quickly. Lozada plans on pressing charges; we can only wait and see how the legal aspects shake out. For now, Johnson can lean on his clean history and past philanthropic endeavors to get him through this tough time. And in sports, everybody likes a winner. Chad needs to find the necessary resolve to resurrect his career. At age 34, this won’t be easy, but it can certainly help rescue his now troubled image and preserve the made-for-TV personality that has landed him reality shows and endorsement dollars.
If he can execute this plan, all of his detractors can “kiss da baby” soon enough.