Television departures are always somber affairs and Chad Johnson’s second episode HBO Hard Knocks departure was no different. It was also the quickest since HBO’s Six Feet Under killed off Nate Fisher Sr. in the pilot’s opening scene. Johnson and his wife Evelyn Lozada may have lost their reality show before it’s premiere but his final appearance on Hard Knocks Tuesday night as head coach Joe Philbin laid out the reasons for cutting Johnson was the quintessential (moving)picture of an athlete in decline.
Johnson’s personality now trumps his production. Last season, he caught 15 touchdown passes and he recorded one drop in his preseason debut.
The four-minute clip was also a cruel irony for a receiver that has craved the spotlight since his emergence as an impact receiver. Johnson only took two episodes to before being written off by Philbin, the Dolphins showrunner, but there were events that foreshadowed Johnson’s run with the Dolphins coming to a premature close.
What initially began as a heartwarming homecoming quickly devolved into a battle between Philbin and Johnson.
Johnson quickly got on Philbin’s bad side after bursting into a coaches meeting unannounced and later earned a stern warning for his language during a profanity-laced press conference.
Before cutting Johnson, Philbin and veteran quarterbackDavid Garrard noted the 34-year-old receiver’s inability to grasp the Dolphins offense, which was the knock on him last season in New England, in addition to his shoddy route running skills. Keep in mind David Garrard’s only experience as a starting quarterback came in Jacksonville when his primary receivers were Mike Sims-Walker and Mike Thomas. Garrard’s bar for excellence wasn’t exactly the peak of Mount Everest.
His variety show act was allowed to flourish during Marvin Lewis’ tenure as head coach of the bungling Cincinnati Bengals but it was never going to fly with a competent coaching staff.
Unfortunately, the Ocho Cinco caricature became so ingrained in Johnson’s psyche that he couldn’t operate in New England’s all-business atmosphere. Johnson became the equivalent to Harvey Dent. Ocho Cinco brought out the star receiver’s Two Face alter ego but Johnson lost the psychological battle.
The Dolphins learned from their Brandon Marshall ordeal. The organization gave Marshall’s two seasons to poison the Dolphins locker room during his identity crisis. Johnson and Ocho Cinco were ditched after two months.
What adds to the heartbreaking factor for Johnson is that he was cut by his hometown team. The NFL’s South Beach franchise was a perfect match for Johnson. Bank of America Stadium has the NFL’s only a stadium nightclub, former Keeping Up With The Kardashians guest star Reggie Bush lines up in the backfield, Mike Tannehill’s model wife has been asked to pose for Maxim and the co-owners include Jennifer Lopez and the Williams sisters.
Chad Owens err….Johnson lives his private life in the public. Even his tweets have become tabloid fodder. Johnson issued a public apology statement for his domestic violence arrest via his Ocho Cinco News Network website.
Last month, Johnson buying plane tickets for grieving widow Cheryl Minton, whom he contacted via Twitter to attend his wedding in hopes of lifting her spirits, was the topic of every gossip website worth its salt. Minton had lost her husband of 30 years. Johnson’s wife left him after six weeks.
The problem is that Johnson has always been more TerezOwens.com than Terrell Owens.
38-year-old diva receiver Terrell Owens is older, coming off a knee injury and more controversial than Johnson but even ESPN analyst Skip Bayless, who refers to Owens as Team Obliterator agrees that his football I.Q. and work ethic compensates for his hostile locker room attitude.
“The great Bill Walsh once told me that Terrell Owens has as high a football I.Q. as a receiver, as any player he ever tutored or coached in the film room.” Bayless opined on ESPN’s First Take recently.
Obviously, Robin (Johnson) didn’t take advantage of Batman’s (Owens) football tutelage during the season they spent together in Cincinnati.
With Johnson out of the picture in Miami, new characters/football players will have the opportunity to step up and make a name for themselves during the preseason on Hard Knocks.
One of those up-and-comers may be former Penn State lacrosse player and current third-team receiver Chris Hogan, who spent last season on the Dolphins practice squad but was praised during Tuesday’s Hard Knocks.
Unlike Johnson, Philbin, Reggie Bush and Ryan Tannehill all complimented the 23-year-old wideout on his remarkable ability to get open. Bush reverted to calling Hogan “7-11” because the receiver was “open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Meanwhile, Johnson’s skills and NFL opportunities are drying up faster than a lost hiker’s water canteen in the Mojave Desert.
In 2007, Johnson famously donned a golden jacket that read “Future H.o.F 20??” after scoring a touchdown on Monday Night Football. The next week he caught 11 passes for 209 yards. Canton was in his sights but the sky was the limit for Johnson at that point. Unfortunately, five years later it’s unlikely he’ll be a Hall of Famer based on his recent production. At the age of 34, there’s uncertainty as to whether he’ll even catch another regular season pass again.
Chad Johnson is unlikely to be immortalized in the NFL Hall of Fame someday. Unfortunately, the highlight of his NFL career for casual fans may now be the four-minute Youtube clip atop this page among many others that Johnson will remember as the lowlight of his life.
