Chad Ochocinco Johnson (born Chad Javon Johnson, January 9, 1978), known from 2008 to 2012 as Chad Ochocinco, is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Santa Monica Corsairs and the Oregon State Beavers, and played for the Cincinnati Bengals and the New England Patriots during his tenure playing in the NFL. He was selected by the Bengals in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft, and played for them for 10 seasons. "Ochocinco", which means "eight five" in Spanish, derives from his number, eighty-five. In 2011, Johnson was traded to the Patriots, for whom he played in Super Bowl XLVI.
In 2012, Johnson played for the Miami Dolphins during the preseason but was released shortly after being arrested for domestic violence. He played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 2014 to 2015, and played one game in 2017 for the Mexican team Fundidores de Monterrey of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA). Johnson emerged as one of the NFL's most productive wide receivers of the 2000s and holds nearly every Bengals receiving record.
In April 2011, CNBC listed Johnson as number one on its list of "most influential athletes in social media". Johnson was a six-time Pro Bowler, was named to three All-Pro teams and was voted as the number one wide receiver on the Bengals 40th Anniversary team.
Johnson was born in Miami, Florida and is of Bahamian descent.
He played high school football at Miami Beach Senior High School, catching 118 career passes and averaging 26.4 yards per catch.
Johnson, who rarely attended class in high school, did not qualify academically for a major college. He enrolled at Division II Langston University in 1996 but was kicked out of school for fighting and skipping classes. He never played in any games at Langston.
In 1997, Johnson transferred to Santa Monica College, a community college in Santa Monica, California. While at Santa Monica College, he played with future NFL wide receiver Steve Smith. Johnson played the 1997 season but was ruled academically ineligible in 1998. He returned to Santa Monica in 1999 and caught 63 passes during the 1999 season.
In 2000, Johnson transferred to Oregon State University, after being aggressively recruited by coach Dennis Erickson to play for the OSU team. Alongside future Bengals teammate T. J. Houshmandzadeh, he led his team to an 11–1 season and a 41–9 victory over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl that year. Johnson also broke a school record for the longest touchdown reception with a 97-yard reception in a game against Stanford. In his one season at the school, he played in 12 games and recorded 37 receptions for 806 yards and 8 touchdowns.
The Cincinnati Bengals chose Johnson in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft with the 36th overall pick. In Johnson's rookie year, he saw moderate playing time in a wide receiver room headlined by Peter Warrick and Darnay Scott as well. He scored his first NFL touchdown in Week 3 against the San Diego Chargers on an eight-yard reception. He recorded 28 receptions for 329 yards and one touchdown in the 2001 season.
In Week 10 of the 2002 season, Johnson had his first 100-yard game with seven receptions for 110 yards and one touchdown in the 38–27 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. In Week 12, in a 29–21 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, he had seven receptions for 152 yards. He had five games going over 100 receiving yards in the 2002 season as the Bengals went 2–14. In the 2002 season, Johnson had 69 receptions for 1,166 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns.
In Week 2 of the 2003 season, Johnson had eight receptions for 131 yards against the Oakland Raiders. In Week 4, a 21–14 win over the Cleveland Browns, he had his first multi-touchdown game as a professional. In Week 12, he had ten receptions for 107 and three touchdowns in a 34–27 win over the San Diego Chargers. In the 2003 season, he broke the Bengals franchise record formerly held by Carl Pickens by recording 1,355 receiving yards on 90 receptions to go with 10 touchdowns as the Bengals improved to 8–8. He was named as a Pro Bowler for the first time.
In Week 7 of the 2004 season, he had seven receptions for 149 yards and one touchdown in the 23–10 victory over the Denver Broncos. In Week 13, a 27–26 win over the Baltimore Ravens, he had ten receptions for 161 yards and two touchdowns. In the 2004 season, he caught 95 passes for nine touchdowns and 1,274 yards, including 117 receiving yards in a 58–48 win against the Cleveland Browns. He earned Pro Bowl honors for the second consecutive season.
In Week 2 of the 2005 season, Johnson had seven receptions for 139 yards and one touchdown in the 37–8 win over the Minnesota Vikings. In Week 6, in a 31–23 win over the Tennessee Titans, he had eight receptions for 135 yards and one touchdown. In Week 11, against the Indianapolis Colts, he had eight receptions for 189 yards and one touchdown in the 45–37 loss to the Colts. He surpassed his franchise record in 2005, recording 1,432 yards on 97 receptions for nine touchdowns. He led the AFC in receiving yards. He made the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive season. He earned first team All Pro honors for the first time.
During the 2005 NFL season, Johnson announced that he would keep a checklist, titled who Covered 85 in '05, that would evaluate the defensive backs who successfully managed to cover him. On November 2, 2005, Marvin Lewis, the Bengals' head coach, replaced Johnson's list with another one titled, Did 85 do everything he could to lead his team to victory 11-6-05. The list, an obvious parody of the original, asked several questions regarding Johnson's performance both on and off the field. According to the Bengals' official website, the list was aimed to antagonize their divisional rival, the Baltimore Ravens, whom the Bengals would play in four days. Johnson was not pleased with the new list, as he had developed a superstitious faith in the older list. He had a stellar performance during the game, prompting the return of the original list.
In 2007, Degree and Yahoo! created an online version of his checklist. The checklist allowed fans to vote for which NFL quarterback Johnson would like to play catch with the most. Every vote helped him raise money for his charity project, "Feed the Children".
On April 20, 2006, Johnson signed an extension to his contract through 2011.
During the first half of the 2006 season, Johnson saw little activity. After being bogged down by an early injury, his productivity endured a sharp decline. During the first eight weeks of the 2006 season, Johnson caught two touchdown passes, while amassing 483 yards. However, after shaving his Mohawk and changing his mentality, he had a breakout game in a losing effort against the San Diego Chargers. Johnson accumulated 260 receiving yards and scored two touchdowns, which broke the previous Bengals record for most receiving yards in a game. He went on to amass 190 receiving yards and three touchdowns in a 31–16 win over the New Orleans Saints in the following week. This gave Johnson a then NFL record of 450 receiving yards in back-to-back games (to be surpassed by Josh Gordon of the Cleveland Browns, who amassed 498 yards in consecutive games in 2013), breaking the previous record of 448 set by San Francisco 49ers receiver John Taylor in 1989. In the following week, he gained 123 yards receiving, breaking the three-game receiving record since the NFL–AFL merger in 1970 and coming within 40 yards of the all-time record.
Johnson finished the 2006 season with 87 receptions for a league leading 1,369 yards and seven touchdowns. He was the first Bengal ever to lead the NFL in receiving yards. Johnson and Houshmandzadeh also became the first Bengals teammates to each amass over 1,000 receiving yards in the same season. He earned Pro Bowl honors for the fourth consecutive season and was first team All-Pro for the second consecutive season.