Chad Johnson: Broke since '78, sleeping at the stadium and Bengal regrets | Full Interview

your parents uh your biological parents I know your grandmother um raised you my mom was my mom was around she was there she had to do what she needed to do she be able to provide for herself to provide for my brother and at the time I'm not sure what came about in agreement I think at the time my grandma felt the best fit for me was with her how would you best explain what your grandma has meant to you everything that's like a that's my rock my rock that's my that's my Foundation you know everything is built on a foundation and that would be the foundation you know how would you explain the role that she played in your life that was my mom my dad like everything everything intwine and one everything everything I learned like that's all I that's all I had that's it my grandma you know I had my mom was was there also I'm talking about hands on every day 24/7 driving me to school when I'm in trouble coming to the school talking to the teachers parent the conference dropping me to tennis dropping me to soccer dropping me to football practice you know how tiring that is over the years and she did all that and then give up even when she wanted to and I'm thankful for everything she's ever done she never gave she gave her me so long ago man so long ago but she didn't I'm really thankful for that you know now times are kind of tough for her you know now that she's up in age and you know health issues early stages of dementia so things aren't the way I like them it's life how tough is that on you to watch her going through that it's tough it's tough but I understood that was coming at some point you know she lost both of her sisters to the same thing already and um she's the last last one left but she's funny it's so funny it's l it's funny but it's not funny because sometimes you got to think she You Raise Me All Your all your life all my life basically and to come home some sometimes to her not know who I am that's funny like who are you mommy is me and she has no clue and like five minutes later Chad what you doing here you so ugly today what happened and that's what's funny because she'll come out of nowh where with humor and then in one instant don't even know who I am walking in the door so sometimes she's present and other times she's not yeah okay yeah and here's this lady who took care of you for so long and now you're in a way it's funny taking care of her it's funny but it's not funny what did you think of your mom growing up and how if at all does the view differ today I love her it's Mom you know she gave me life she gave me life you know other than that I don't really think too much into it I don't worry about the past or what happened in the past you know that would always be my mom no matter what your dad uh was in jail for a time for selling drugs 23 24 years something like that what do you remember from the first time you met him it was cool but even though my dad wasn't around I wasn't the type like oh you weren't here you know I don't want anything to do with you I was I was different I wanted to I wanted to know who he was you know I already knew what happened already read up on what happened so I'm not coming at you to to talk about why you laugh and nah I want to know who my father was and and I we created a relationship once he got out came up to a couple of games enjoyed our time together here always smoke cigars together you know and um I said he passed away and maybe two three years ago from pacreatic cancer the first time you apparently felt the connection with him was actually at his funeral um what was it about that that made you suddenly feel close to him I thought I was close them before that honestly I mean I hate the fact that our relationship was short for one but I tried to make the most of it throughout the time that I did have once I got to understand and know who he was and that was that was the best I could do like I was never one of those that really thought like what's done is done so I never thought about the past like my grandma did or like other people do I don't like I'm living in the now right now what can we do going forward to improve on what we missed on and then that was it how clear were you growing up that you needed to make it in football well I need to make it as something you know there are only two ways there's left and right right where I'm from there left and right and sometime you have those in the middle you know there one very very many academic Scholars coming out of Liberty City and what's left and what's right you had the street life to the right you had Sports to the left you have those in the middle that that would maintain maintain that regular lifestyle I was talking to one of your close friends Trent the other day 2 years older than you was in prison for dealing cocaine um he told me that you know back in the day when you guys were growing up you actually wanted to go out on the block with him and sell drugs but he said basically no you know go home because he didn't feel like that life was for you how true is that completely my grandma would probably kill me you know but I want to be in when you're young you know you don't really you don't think for yourself but whatever is hot whatever is going on whatever is going good and everyone else is doing that's what you want to do so where I come from that's what everybody's doing man they 16 17 fly clothes fly shoes nice cars 1617 Mercedes you know it it was crazy the jewelry and I was fascinated by that at that time and in fact my grandma kept me so enclosed I was ex I was even that much more fascinated because I was like this is what I'm missing out on really yeah my grandma was strict man like I had to be in the house before the lights came on on the street there's no way to live it worked out and then I had a group of individuals that were extremely in society's eyes dangerous bad like no no no jokes like serious but I didn't see that's not the side of them I got to know we grew up we talk about from childhood up and at some point they drifted right and became extremely powerful and it ran an entire city like I wanted to be part of that that's cool and what were they running just drug sales every Everything literally everything they were extremely powerful how did it make you feel at the time when your friend didn't want you to be part of it I didn't understand it then I understand it now well I understand it way way I mean understood it in 2001 once I made it I understood it when I was going to visit him in prison how grateful are you what he did very very I remember the first time I went to see him his first words first words was now you see why just like that now you see why sent your ass home that was cool that was cool and very grateful CU I just I think about all the examples where people try to do something like I was trying to do and those group of individuals bring them in instead and allow them to we had an entire area that actually shunned me away sort of made me Outcast almost in a sense and why you because of the football they knew already they could see yeah I was I was wasn't all world but they can see I it was something special so you're in the conversation about being drafted reasonably high up in the first round you go to the NFL combine which is kind of the the biggest event for uh NFL prospects and you're running the 40 yard dash and you slip and get four 57 in the 40 what's your reaction afterwards I was I was mad I was was mad but then like that clock that clock to be able to slip and be able to recover and still run a 45 people don't know 45 is Extreme that's fast that's not slow and to be able to slip with the clock that they use at a combine it's moving it's moving so I mean I wasn't mad and I just you you were devastated afterward mean I me of course because I wanted to to run fast right I mean speed wasn't my specialty that wasn't my thing you know being able to run is great being fast and running a straight line is great but the game of football is not played in a straight line not sure why they still focus on the 40 anyway it's funny though I I was reading a story from back then and you were quoted as you know something along the lines of uh you know you'd love obviously to play for your hometown Miami Dolphins but there's no way you're going to be drafted by them because they're picking too late in the first round they have picked number 26 and then where do you end up getting drafted was it the six pick of the second round if I'm not mistaken so they're 29 yeah I think something like that six picks of the second or something around that around that I was happy though I was happy you know the feeling man when that name Scrolls down to the bottom of that screen you get that phone call before and it's Mike Brown hey dick Lavo at the time was a was a head coach you know we're taking you for the sixth selection dude I was I was so turned and I was in a room all by myself family everybody was out front you know I was by myself in the room just watching the draft and that was such a s relief and when I hung up I just thought about everything I went through to get to this point in the time I almost quit just just all all the little things all the little stuff it just and that's that's where those tears came from what was it like running through the tunnel at your first game it was crazy it's crazy I've never seen that many people that many people screaming an individual name at once and to come out and here that name was really dope in front of 70,000 that's new how was that Corvalis you know they they only sit what maybe 30 20 at that time you got to I think back then ree Stadium wasn't that big and 70 80,000 screaming Chad 85 jerseys fill in the stadium you won't be able to match that again explain why uh you used to tell Defenders what you were going to do before you actually did it so they understood that I was prepared that week so actually the people on the outside understood how great I was when I played you take away the annex everything everything I've done over the years is overshadowed because of the annex the people really don't understand how really great I was at my craft to be able to go with the out there with the best of the best not only be out there with the best of the best but tell the elite players this is what I'm going to do and then go out there and execute it the exact same way I said I'm going to do it and it's not on myself because I'm relying on 10 other people for the plays to actually function like an engine like an engine everything has to be working in order forth to work you don't just drop back and throw it the Chad but that's the confidence I had in myself that's the confidence I had in my teammates be able to do that for a decade straight what would you say to the Defenders everything everything sometimes I would tell them my route and when would you have these conversations at the line scri at the line of scrimmage if it was man to man there's another thing if you ever watch Clips or you ever get a chance to talk to Marvin Lewis I would come out the Huddle and I would look at him and I would look at him and do this and that would always be I want you to watch me on this play we would I would have conversations through sign link with Marvin Lewis in the middle of plays before the snap would even occur letting him know watch what I do to him like it is I really had such a fun time and I was so focused and zoned in when I was playing despite what the media or everyone else might see because you see the finished product you see the having the fun part but you don't see that there's a whole another side that was never shown probably because the way I the way I was how often would you sleep at the stadium oh you remember that I heard that that was fun first two years first two years I was little kid you know young and first two years in the NFL yeah first two years I would stay at the stadium why it was home that was it was all I know it was all I knew at the time was football you know my place it was cool to be home but then I was so engulfed in the game of football and wanting to just just be great at my craft that I felt this was the necessity to be just that where would you sleep in the lounge room we had a lounge room TV video game arcade machine couches were plush it was dope how true is it that you would sometimes call coaches to talk strategy at 2: a.m. 2: 3 in the morning yeah cuz I was one of the few people one of the few people that didn't Club I didn't go out I'm in bed by 9:30 and I always call Coach Lewis 4: or5 in the morning Hugh Jack 4:5 in the morning um bar rowski our offensive coordinator he got the the most he got it the worst because I always had an idea always had some type of strategy or something that I felt could help us he would get it two 3 4 it didn't matter what time it was and did they welcome the calls or they like what the you they they knew what it was for because I did it over an expand of 10 years this wasn't just all right I'm going to do this this week no this was all the time consistently so I was really part of the family in a sense what do you think could have been done differently I don't know it's not my place it's not my I'm not a GM if I knew then I'd be in that position to make those calls right I I never I never give my input on something I know nothing about because if I did then I'd be in the position and do it but I mean how do you know they weren't doing everything they could we would have been winning I would suppose huh that's it you know I I've never I never talked bad about the organization I never did yeah never said anything bad they said I was tired of losing right you know right which I guess makes I mean from the organization standpoint I'm sure they're like we're paying you a lot of money just you know stay here and play and from your standpoint you're thinking you're one of the top players in the league you're sick of losing you want to you know start contributing on a I didn't look at it so much that like that I just I just wanted to win M you know I did my job you know I had fun doing it it I didn't do it the way most felt I should have been doing it you know I didn't conform to the ways of the NFL you know I had my own way of doing things the way I was taught the game should be played and I stuck to that I stuck to those values and you know some liked it some didn't but I was damn good at what I did you said uh looking back you should have stayed in Cincinnati what it would have been great to be to be around when times were good cuz I never knew what I never knew what it felt like to win at the place I felt like was home being in New England was great it was great because I got the chance to win I didn't get the chance to contribute the way I'd like to it was it was a great feeling but I would have loved to be home what I consider home and what I know inside and out but that's the way the game is you know you don't stay there long it happens very very very seldom you know Larry fero has been where he's been for a while even Jerry Rice moved twice just it's unfortunate you apparently at least at that time felt betrayed by the head coach Marvin Lewis there were reports that you threatened to sit out a season looking back on all that nowat Miss football it's not happening yeah it's not happening and he wouldn't he would laugh at that anyway so would everyone else knowing the way I love the game not sitting out how do you view all all of that today the the whatever drama went on with Cincinnati back when it really wasn't there was no drama it wasn't that bad you think about it wasn't a problem child I think I grew frustrated at one point from the losing as anyone would and that's really all it was just sick and tired being sick and tired kind of yes it it happens it happens you know it happens I I I I I didn't cause any problems I had fun playing the game of football I made it fun to be a bangal fan again I made it I made it okay to wear in Cincinnati Jersey outside the state of Cincinnati it was okay I made it cool you know but you know at one point it just it warned me what was the transition like for you from playing in the NFL to no longer playing it was easy easy yeah it was extremely easy for I was I was at my I was on my tail end so when you say transition listen to to transition from okay I'm not playing football anymore right to now I'm home just being a dad or just living everyday dayto day life I still lived the same way when I was playing that I'm living now so the transition the change was no different there was nothing that I had to adjust to but I mean when you stopped playing in the NFL you wanted to still you know keep playing at least for a little bit longer maybe a year I went to Canada I went to Canada that year not to be all world not to go in there and be Chad Johnson B I went to Canada to finish the right way because that was honestly that Miami year that year in Miami once that year was done I was that was it uh you end up going to Canada uh to play football for a little bit uh how was that experience for you really good extremely surprising you understand I didn't I didn't understand much about the CFL the D of the game itself let alone the players dude they were they were good it was extremely surprising I'm thinking it was going to be easy being able me coming from the NFL playing at a high level for years okay maybe I should be able to go over here and just you know and breathe through fool me first day of camp no the level of talent might be off just a tad bit the speed of the game is the same the speed of the game is the same it was no different and it was extremely surprising that week to week I would look and and for the life of me I couldn't understand why some of these guys weren't down south pling why some of you individuals you know weren't in NFL but it's really not that far off not that far off like like you might think you know they you have the NFL you have your Elite then you have your second and third string MH your second and third string is like you can swap CFL NFL there's really no different MH you know except your elite players if that makes sense why not play there for longer no I just need that one year to finish okay that's it cuz if I played in Miami that year I was retiring anyway my body couldn't take it anymore honestly what would you say is the most satisfying moment from your career you know what I never even got to finish it the right way so I think that one will always be empty yeah and we got to finish it the right way you know I had to go to the CFL to finish to get that feeling of completion but I didn't get to finish my career in the NFL the right way maybe if they retire 85 maybe when I come back and do my retiring speech in Cincinnati maybe that will be the finishing touch or answer to that question but right now it's just it's void it's empty isn't that though kind of being unfair to yourself I mean because you played so well for so long achieved so so much and while you might not have won the Super Bowl in Cincinnati or you might not have finished how you wanted to finish I mean it's a career that just about everybody entering the NFL would have died to have had that's great but so basically what you just said is you just wrote a great sentence and forgot to put the period at the end there's no period to everything you just said yes the sentence is great but it's not complete complete until that period is there there's no period uh when you were playing I think you said you regretted not being able to be as present to father as you could be yeah about I didn't like that but I like it now though but now I have a small issue because now that my kids are older they don't want to hang with me because now they have friends there's always a damn birthday party there's always something going on there always it's like every every weekend like it's Friday right now right I'm supposed to have a house full of kids right now I guarantee you when I call when we're together there's a party going on or they have something to do or they can go it's a dance it's a concert it's always something so I have my baby my daughter my six-month old baby Kennedy now she can hang with me cuz she had no choice but every time I take her somewhere she's sleeping so it's like I'm losing across the board I think you have five kids six kids I need one more from and a few different moms the traditional way sucks I was going to say I mean looking back would you do any of that different definitely not really definitely not why that's selfish I mean but does it allow you to be as present to father as you would like to be yeah extremely easy extremely I have my kids every weekend pick them up from schools during the week sometimes extremely easy you don't have to do the the traditional way that they say you know it should be done it didn't work out for me I tried that one time didn't work it's kind of boring actually what's boring about it just the traditional way of doing things the way they say it should be done isn't for everybody so uh your daughter killed it at the Junior Olympics she's pretty fast she's fast like extremely fast to be that young what's that like for you as a dad watching is awesome training with her is awesome cuz I train with her and actually I actually run and go through everything with her as well so what will you guys do together well she has her own coach okay I'm not coach CU I know nothing about track I can just run so whatever she has for that day I go through most of the circuit with her and it's fun so I I'm I'm seeing the product being made right here firsthand which is really dope I didn't I didn't have that I didn't have that I became great on my own being able to find the motivation Within Myself to want to be good at my craft not the game of football I just want to be good at my craft and me being able to to be there with my daughter and un help her understand what it takes to get there and the drive that you need is pretty dope and the funny thing I like about it with her is I'm not pushing I'm not pushing I'm not forcing you to run like she actually enjoys it and that's one of the hard things about having kids or or or having parents that that want their kids to be great at something is the parents that might not have reached that full potential try to do it and live through their kids by pushing them and force them and like I am at ease because I don't have to do anything like she already has that drive and that want to enter and that's like a plus cuz that's hard to come by how great does it feel to be in a position where you can support her in that way I like it I think maybe if think if I was still playing right now man I wouldn't be able to do that right I wouldn't be able to to pick up and drop off from school I wouldn't be able to say hey I'm coming to get you guys this weekend we're going somewhere I wouldn't be able to go to parent teach a conference like that stuff is fun like being a dad is really dope and I missed it as much as I missed the game even though I can't take the hits anymore what do you most like about being the dead them trying to pull the same tricks that I pull 20 years ago and them thinking it's going to work that's fun you know how dope it is seeing a bunch of you like a group of you walking through the mall six deep with a baby strapped in my chest going shopping going to the movies going to the grocery store and then piling the the card up with just a bunch of snacks that's me going to McDonald's and nobody complaining about what to order like it's like little stuff little stuff like that is like really dope to me how much were you find over the course of your that's a good question people ask me that all the time and I have no clue I have no clue on a set amount on how much it's been over time if you had the guess I don't even know even if I had the guess I couldn't even tell you I mean in the hundreds of thousands I mean easily because they would get me for for simple stuff color of my shoes my socks you know my chin strap the tape on my wrist wrong gloves and you almost embraced it though at the time I mean it was almost I I didn't I didn't pay any I didn't pay any M and they the whole the whole point this is this is a funny thing about the NFL they go after what they think you value most NFL thinks that most of us made it to that point and we value money the most but unfortunately that was not one of the most important values to me which is why I can continue to do the same thing over and over this is an entertainment this game is for entertainment people pay $75 a ticket and they're going to get their money's worth every week I'm not here for your money it's great that I made it to a point where I'm able to make millions doing something that I love but that's not the sole reason why I'm here you would all regret blowing the money on fins no for what okay I made it up in offseason anyway yeah and I guess in reality it was some of the Antics that got the big endorsement deals because people were entertained by what they field personality exactly your uh favorite touchdown celebration I never got the opportunity to do it what was it we were playing the Kansas City Chiefs if I'm not I'm not yeah we were playing the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City we had already we were already I think might have been 2005 year if I'm not mistaken and I am the the easy button from the stable commercial it just came out okay and I put two easy buttons on the North and South End Zone and I was going to score and grab the Easy Button from under there and you know take it over to Carson and have him hit it I think that would have been one of my favorites but I never I didn't score that game unfortunately and you didn't have a Staples endorsement deal I would have had one after that you would have had one after that right what about other ones you were able to do um probably the one I like the most is probably the marriage proposal okay the marriage proposal was was pretty like I remember telling the cheerleaders before the game I'm not sure what end zone would happen but just pay attention and just go along I didn't even tell them what I was going to do I said just pay attention so whoever I got to first she already knew what what I was H what was happening yeah even though it's just we were mocking The Proposal um Christmas time we played Buffalo scoring and giving out um throwing the presents in the stands out of the Santa bag was pretty cool yeah that was neat I kind of like the Hall of Fame induction thing I like the Hall of Fame jacket I also liked when Carson off yeah name off the back I like the Hall of Fame thing because I felt I gotten to a point where I think I'm a Hall of Fame player and I rather not deal with the politics and wait for the real thing to happen so as far as I'm concerned I'm already inducted my numbers say they are good enough to be there I didn't win a championship I didn't get any rings unfortunately it happens how are you doing financially I've been broke I've been broke since 78 no what do you mean no what do you mean you've been broke since 78 I don't have we don't have money you think athletes have money you made a fortune during your football career no dude the people signing a check have a fortune well okay it's all relative but to you know 99.9% of the population you were making a fortune maybe not compared to the billionaire NFL owners but 99% of the population where from right I'm not rich or I'm not well I'm I'm well off if that's you say it I'm well off and you're still well off today yeah I'm cheap you haven't followed me over the years hey your friend Trent who I was talking to said um you know when you guys will go out to lunch he will he will force you to let him pay sometimes but everybody else you pay for so you can't be that it was it was it was it was weird it was weird but I am the way I move the way I live the lifestyle I've lived over the years if you followed me even if you're a fan you know like I've always shown small instances like for instance on Hard Knocks shopping at CLA my jewelry has always been fake Rolexes diamonds everything is cubic of corny because it all Shine the same when the light hits it if you already had money there's no reason to buy anything real which I've tried to explain you a dozen exotic cars didn't or you know dozen cars some of which were exotic me yeah I had a Ferrari I had a Lamborghini and a phantom all bought with TV money okay what what is it like though when you know the the football checks obviously sto coming because you're no longer playing but the kind of day-to-day living expenses remain the same that um my living expenses my my only overhead was child support which is structurally done between myself and the mothers okay that's my living expense that was always that's that's that's all I have I didn't have a house here I didn't have a house there like you don't understand how simple I really live you know there's a perception and there's reality so it was important to you to make smart financial decisions over the course of your I did I did early I didn't I didn't I didn't make any extremely bad ones because I didn't do any of those ridiculous Investments M I didn't put money like I was I was extremely safe in in a sense and didn't do anything crazy what made you realize you needed to make those smart decisions I don't know I went through a phase I went through a phase that phase of mine was was only two years it got boring because the things that people like to do I'm not even into it I don't drink alcohol so I'm not in the club popping bottles and spending 50k for a group of group of people I didn't have an Entourage the Entourage that I had didn't even want to deal with me growing up as a kid and definitely didn't want to surround themselves around me once I made it because of the attention that they brought so I didn't have to spend on them so where's my money going it's really nowhere for it to go I'm not trying to live up to society standards I was a Oddball when I was playing I didn't want to fit in with anyone else everything I did I wanted to be over here on my own I was completely different and so which is why I keep trying to explain how my transition really wasn't that difficult because I wasn't living crazy when I was making it why do you think the perception out there was different because I made it that way the way I played you know the interviews the the celebrations you know the mainstream media was able to you know sort of build up this perception to the masses on this is the way I was when you know behind closed doors I'm nothing like that which is why I would love when Twitter came along because it sort of knocked the middleman out the way best lesson you've learned over the years about money and finance would be what money and finance the best lesson to save it period it looks better coming in than going out that's always that's always it's always been my thing always did you ever get a concussion and play in that same game I mean and still go on to play in the game yeah of course of course you don't you don't you don't tail you don't nobody they don't tell you know if you feel you're able to go you're going to go concussion protocol is completely different now so yeah players do all the time NFL covering their ass smart knowing what you know now about the long-term side effects playing could have mhm are there any situations back when you were playing that you would have done differently Dodge Ray a couple more times Ray Lewis yeah because I purposely there there are times where it's the hardest hit you have ever taken right probably Ray and and Brian Russell gave me a concussion bad and knocked me out we were playing in Cleveland it was like garbage time and Carson threw me a slant and I tried to go get it he went right up under my chin this is before the rules it's before the rules too yeah that was bad like I was sleep on the field what do you remember from that instance it hurt I remember I needed stitches underneath the interview that's on YouTube with me where you're all fuzzy in the locker room c yeah I was I was gone I was messed up I had had no clue where I was PR guy stepped in pretty quickly yeah he did quick and I I remember on an interview of me asking how did I do all I want to know is how did I do against Boden I was like having concussion I'm worried about did I do well against DB I know you've said before you and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had a relationship yes we dude look look look at this okay like I'm the only one I have to be the only player who has and you call him dead you see his name name is there twice right yeah office and home office home I mean you could have made up numbers and just right no like I'm the old player still I think I'm the only one that loves him how did that relationship start when he when he took over after tago I was sure to be one of the first ones to get in contact with him and it was important that he understood that as of now we would have a good relationship because he was going to have to deal with me a lot which is the case over the years and what are some of the situations since then that people would be surprised to know that you guys have you know had personal interaction about All Fins those are personal interactions was anytime that we interact it's because I've done something wrong on the end zone nothing more nothing less because I never got in trouble what do you think of him I like him he was put in a tough position though cuz when he came in and everyone kept getting in trouble and he had to sort of come down with the hammer right away and I don't want to say be macho but like be Stern he had to we left him no choice as players because everyone kept getting in trouble it was a time you remember when he first came in like everybody kept getting arrested it was crazy he's definitely done a better job policing the league than Comm T he to understand people were getting in trouble in positions that he had no control over or coaches you know you get in trouble in the street or at home or late at night you're in the club I you represent that organization but I mean he can't control that you know you can't control it you guys still keep in touch I bother I bother him every blue moon okay I bother him every blue moon what do you think of the NFL's handling of domestic violence cases are they doing enough you think I don't know I don't think so I mean I would even myself in the position that I man I would I would have would love to be one would be advocate for it especially after messing up but I don't think someone like my I don't even think they would allow me to do so so I've I've never even tried I've never even tried to be a voice for it because I just think like I messed up so bad that it's not even worth a shot well but I mean firsthand experiences with that and being able to talk about that are sometimes the most effective teaching tools yeah but sometimes H I don't know that's a very touchy subject it's a very iffy subject you know and I kind of just I mean it's been years it's been years and I kind of sort of let the situation is never going to go away but I just tend not to bring it up tend not to say anything about it and you know at times like now I always just always apologize to those that have hurt you know and those that are that still haven't forgiven me so how tough was that period for you to go through very extremely tough for one I messed up big time Big Time and when everything happened I came out right away and took full responsibility regardless of what you said regardless of what anyone else said I messed up regard to how anybody tried to finagle the situation or say this is why it happened or or I shouldn't have done this Chad messed up that's it there's nothing I can do I apologize to my family my friends I apologize to her a million times I apologize to everyone that would accept my apology and I understood what was to come or what was going to come after the fact so all I could do was do that I took a few classes few angry men classes counseling after that being able to learn how to channel my anger the right way there are not very few I'm angry very very very very few times because if you know me personally I am always an outgoing loving person just having fun and the few times that I do get mad I've learned how to channel that anger the right way which is something that I never was able to do before what do you remember from being in jail it was cold as sh you think about your mistake you know when you're in when you're in like that and you know the short time that I did spend in there I knew I wouldn't play again you didn't think you'd play again no of course not I was on the back end of my career and then the magnitude of the mistake that I made no team was going to deal with the backlash from that especially with a high-profile player coming back it wasn't happen your friend was uh telling me as this was all going on you actually uh one night are sitting on your grandma's porch I think with him uh you know just getting emotional about the fact that you know your now ex-wife wasn't uh returning your calls what's that like for you to go through at the time it hurt it was Karma Karma that was my karma why just was for all the for all the people I've ever done wrong for all the women I've probably ever done wrong that's that's how I thought about it you know not the incident itself not the incident itself of me messing up I mean just and in all it was a way of God saying you need to slow down you need to slow down and it happened it I don't want to say it happened for a reason but I mean just on my end my part in the way I was moving in general but that as a result of what happened you were able to take your life in an even more positive direction and go there you go everything was slowed down because I was I was moving like I I was moving then what do you mean it's it's a figure of speech it's no way to explain it you know you would have to understand you would have to to understand I was moving in a way I shouldn't have been moving if that makes sense not doing anything wrong mhm I'm over here to the left remember looking back you probably could have been making better decisions with stuff Bingo okay I wasn't moving the way I should have been moving I want to run through um a handful of moments and get you to recall your best memory from each experience the first one being Dancing with the Stars oh that was so humbling so humbling yes man that was so humbling I had Rhythm I could already dance but once you add music steps and a partner and counts and being able to be in unison as one and then you taking a professional dancer that's been doing it all her life and then you take an athlete and you put him in a situation that was uncomfortable but I was able to adapt it was extremely extremely humbling because one mistake in her craft which she has perfected I throw everything off and it it was extremely humbling experience a great experience but very humbling Major League Soccer oh man I was horrible I was horrible but it's that's my first love that's my first love I can go play right now though I you be better now yeah way better I'd make the team right now easily you'd make an MLS team right now easily come on I swear to God do you want to do that I don't even I don't think I can I'm too old but I could well I mean if you're good enough they aren't going to say no to if I could probably go back to Sporting KC I'm always welcome there but yeah right now I I've got my game back to a level to a level it was before I started playing football my touch you know being able to understand the game okay well so there's the career question then could you ever see short term doing that maybe that would be a dream I could live out maybe for a season that would be nice coming off the bench professional bull writing oh man that was scary that was scary that was scary there there's one that was that was one for the bucket list okay so take me through the experience experience was I felt I was going to do extremely well because riding a bull yeah I never saw wait a minute I'm going to tell you why the mechanical bull extremely easy I'm able to sit up I'm able to mount I'm able to you know I have my leg closed my pants weren't this tight though my legs were able to close and I was was in um in a position where I felt I could dominate this individual I felt good I did the whole mechanical bull thing as as um training of course you can't get on the real bulling practice i' never seen a bulling person until this day so I get in coming to shoot the bull is huge yeah I mean there's a little bit of a difference from a mechanical bull versus I'm thinking I'm thinking based on what I've seen on TV very few times CU I knew nothing about bull riding so I like I'm not tripping I'm trying to keep my face calm like I got this and I get on the bowl and my legs are all the way out here and that's where and that's where the problem came in at where I was getting ready to this is one of the times I was getting ready to quit I was getting ready to quit because I'm trying to understand he's a ball of muscle it's like a big ball of muscle and my legs are spread out and so I'm thinking to myself how am I supposed to grip or be able to squeeze if my legs are so far spread part and he said you have to use the Spurs and and kick so there's a whole technique that goes into it which I didn't have time to learn cuz they been doing this all their life and I just held on for dear life and that once the one I gave him the okay to open the gate is like a like a ball of power just shot out it doesn't even look fast but you have to be on it to understand like that it it was really scary the foot race against a thoroughbred horse that was fun that was cool I had I was was handicapped I had a 50 yard Head Start it doesn't count no yeah it doesn't count posing naked for PETA that was fun that was fun I wish I could have dropped the ball but it was cool that's what playg girls for that works I should hold a play girl yeah maybe you should to Old what's something most people that don't follow you would be surprised to know you talk about probably my musical taste my musical taste you have wide ranging musical tast yeah I listen to everything matter of fact I'm going to see Andrea pachelli again come February which I'm really excited about I haven't missed him in like maybe three or four years he's been coming to Miami I love the Arts Alvin ell I've been seeing Alvin Dance Theater you know Alan is no I know nothing about I haven't missed him since 1989 I've seen every bro Broadway musical there is every show that' probably be the one weird thing that people don't know most fun you've ever had on Twitter most fun I think maybe 2009 that's when Twitter was fun when I didn't have that many followers and I can tweet where I wanted it to where I wanted to and what what's the difference then versus now I have so many followers so I'm somewhat I'm somewhat careful in what I say and how I say it and the words that I use because not only that the media can I don't care will run with something it doesn't matter okay you you know when have I ever cared about I don't know kids are older now you know oh your kids are older now okay so you censor yourself for that re a little bit a little [Music] bit all right so you found somebody that we're going to play on Twitter right I have a young young fellow and he had the nerve to talk trash come over I'm in Davey and he has a picture of his TV Set up with the game already ready oh there you go I mean I hate to beat him on a Friday but we're coming for him yeah we're [Music] coming yo what up CH what's up you trying to play yeah oh there's more people what's good what's up I'm Graham aw so Chad is 30 and three 30 that's what he says his record is you guys got a prediction he's I got man I ain't going to lie so did you think he was going to show up I didn't know hon and then you got the phone call yeah I got the phone call I like serious get out of here that's bll don't do that don't do me like that what's up baby no go you good hello I'm I'm still out here in Davey right now I'll be out that way y'all L later on uhoh don't do it do it did it on I was on the phone I'm sorry my bad8 minutes left colasso good game so you're now 31 and three let me take one like 3 2 one hey thank you for letting me in your house man seriously seriously I appreciate it man pleasure okay all right I got you hey I'm around the corner I'll be back I'll be back take care [Music] brother how often do you play every day every day for the past me what I've been out four years day yeah so Mikey owns the place right yeah so how's Chad start playing here start yeah like about like 3 years 3 or four years ago and I came with the wrong shoes exactly he came with the Cs first time he came the C so he put them on the side and then like I think like a year after I S him a tweet tweet him I said hey CH you forgot your clean you know we kept out the side then he came and is then EAS every day yeah that's his house I can shoot really well can you shoot you have to catch it during the game right now don't hurt me Hur that's really close I'm going to get [Laughter] hurt the ball all right wait do one more do one more now I know how hard you're here you got it best two out of three I blocked that one tell me about this place this is home this is where I grew up this is where I was raised this is my grandmother's place this is her mom's place and so on and so forth uh so what do you most remember about this place all the ass weapons oh the ass weapons yeah all the beads did you have a lot yeah a lot get as in that shaped you into the man you are or that was over the me into the man I am in a sense because I hadn't learned my lesson until it was too late for me almost and iow Santa Monica you know but other than that man it's it's fun the memories are still here because they're they she's still here so it's cool you see how quiet it is right now mhm and when when dark Falls it's a different ball game what's it like when dark Falls I don't know cuz I won't be here I I mean what is it you what is it usually like when just never know you never know

Channel: Graham Bensinger

Views: 14,410

Keywords: Graham Bensinger, In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Sports Interview, Feature Interview, Sports Journalism, chad johnson, ochocinco, nfl, football, nfl football, bengals, money management

Id: ZRVGYSQa7v4

Length: 52min 41sec (3161 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 20 2023