Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Channel Chad: The Johnson Dilemma

Chad Johnson didn’t practice because of a back injury. The team has issued a statement stating they have cleared Chad Johnson to practice. The team has requested that Chad Johnson have ankle surgery. Johnson participated in a limited fashion in this drill and pulled out of that drill. The agent announces Chad Johnson is sitting out practice because of his ankles…or his knees…or his back…or whatever. The offseason-long charade came to a head at the start of the Bengals’ June mandatory mini-camp. Johnson was the crown jewel in what was heralded as a tumultuous offseason for the Cincinnati squad. The circus started shortly after the completion of the 2007 season and has been a steady drain on Bengals fans’ buzz of offseason optimism ever since. Each week a different and often conflicting Johnson headline read as if it had been ripped off the front cover of the tabloids, leaving everyone lost in a muffled cess pool of confusion concerning their team. Is Johnson another malcontent wide receiver saddled with an overly volatile personality liable to tear the team apart at the seams? Should the team have shipped Chad out while his price tag was still high? Considering the uncertainty, it would be easy for Bengals followers to approach the looming 2008 season with an uneasy feeling. However, I don’t think the outlook is quite so dire.

No Reception

In 2006, Carson Palmer returned from knee surgery and the Bengals lumbered through an up and down year, barely missing the playoffs and finishing 8-8. 2007 brought little improvement. The offensive line didn’t have much continuity week to week and played accordingly while the defense, hampered by injuries and inexperience, failed to show any signs of coming around. The pass game became a crutch. Once a potent weapon, its crispness dulled under the pressure of propping up a team struggling on many fronts. The receivers put up career numbers, but the results didn’t show up in the win loss column. The expectations had been that Cincinnati would surely rebound in ’07 for another playoff push. When it didn’t happen, frustrations mounted and the finger pointing began.

Too Hot For T.V.?

All winter on into the spring, Johnson could be heard lashing out at everyone from the front office, to the coaching staff, to even Carson Palmer. He was upset about the defense or his contract or how he was treated or which way the rain was blowing. The true answer was never really clear. Maybe he was trying to stir up more money or fishing for a way out of town, but I am more of the opinion that the guy was just bruised up. Like his antics or not, he is a driven player filled with raw passion who stands in the spotlight constantly. In today’s world of incessant news coverage, that’s a dangerous place to be. Sports media in general is way out of control, and the professional football variety leads the way gracelessly. Fickle analysts and out-of-place former players strain to justify their existence wringing significance out of every moment before during and after each season. Don’t get me wrong, I eat up every minute of it but it drives me crazy. Every minute detail is scrutinized, and the tides change with the wind. Take last year’s Super Bowl. The 2007 Patriots were hands-down the greatest team of all time for the 17 week regular season, the playoffs, and 3 and a half quarters of the Super Bowl. One desperate Eli manning heave later and they were leap frogged by the Steelers and Dolphins of the ‘70’s, the 49ers of the 80’s, and the Cowboys of the 90’s. One miracle catch and the Patriots defense suddenly became decrepit and full of holes. The Patriots pull out that game and Tom Brady goes down as heroic. Playing hurt, he calmly pulled through in the clutch. Instead, the next day his ice-water-in the veins demeanor was suddenly questioned by the so-called experts as a display of withdrawn disinterest.

A player like Johnson doesn’t stand a chance in that environment. When the team wins he’s an electric catalyst fueling the team’s fire. The second things go south, he gets strung up as a cancerous distraction. The media whispers not so subtly, and Chad hears it. The guy yearns for success. String together multiple years of the same old team missteps and the frustration festers. The defense still dwells in the cellar of the league, management drags their feet, and the losing gets pegged on him. The shots sting, and not surprisingly, the emotional player reacts emotionally. He tried to bottle it up for the year, but having a personality face lift crammed down his throat simply bred more discontent. When the end of the year hit, he let loose.

Does he bring some of the scrutiny on himself? Absolutely. He is outspoken about getting the ball and displays his frustration as freely as he celebrates. His displays of fun and entertainment often flirt with crossing the lines between individual and team concepts. Sometimes too much focus gets diverted towards him and what he has said or is going to do instead of maximum attention getting placed on winning football games. The question is, weighing his faults against what he brings to the table, do you want him on your team? I have to say yes. On the surface, Johnson represents one of the big reasons I enjoy football as much as I do. Quite simply, he is one of the sleekest athletes I have ever seen. He’s built rock solid, yet is lean and brimming with thoroughbred speed. He flows down the field with unparalleled fluidity, effortlessly imposing slow motion upon opposing defenders. There’s a lot of static throughout the week and after the whistle blows, but from the time the play starts to when it stops, it’s just him the quarterback and the green grass in a symphony that instantaneously transforms the game from sport to an artistic display well worth the price of admission. It would be a shame to see him go. In terms of his consuming personality and its effects, I have a hard time buying into the contention that he is detrimental to the team. His personality may accent the team’s struggles, but I wouldn’t indict it as the cause. Bad defense and a sloppy rushing attack are much bigger contributors. He is definitely not perfect. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the flamboyance to some extent, but sometimes you just want to shake the guy and yell in his ear to just go play football. Overreacting when things don’t go your way just digs the whole deeper, and the front office isn’t nearly as bad as they are made out to be. Do your job. It would be nice for him to mature and become a little more even-keeled; to be more faithful to attributes like sportsmanship and professionalism, but he is who he is. He can be frustrating, but assigning any significant amount of blame for the team’s failures to him is a short-sighted cop out. I think the team is better off with him than without him.

Camp Controversy or Turning Point?

Thus went the offseason of doubt and disappointment. Attempts at signing free agents failed, coaches exited, and decent players from an already anemic defense exited all the while #85 pouted out venomous overtures in the background. Tensions bubbled right up to mandatory mini camp. The vultures circled, hoping for TO ’08, and day 1 seemed not to disappoint. However after that, the whole thing seemed to flame out, and the chaos subsided. Day 2 brought a change in tone. The camp atmosphere could still be characterized by a rolling boil, but this was different. Something else was brewing. There was an audible hum, a buzz of something other than controversy. Hobbled offensive stars of years past the likes of Willie Anderson, Rudi Johnson, and Chris Perry showed up rejuvenated with a spring in their step. The defensive mood also seemed to have shifted. New defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer, had his boys swarming. Although young and absent of superstars, early indications were that the inferiority complex plaguing the unit for the past two decades had been exorcised. The attitude, one of a group hungry for redemption, resonated clearly through camp. Chad heard it. Chad felt it too as he found himself getting pounded about by potential members of Cincinnati’s 2008 secondary throughout passing drills. It was the sound of hope, and once it hit the star receiver, he seemed to change his tune a little bit. It no longer was about everyone else’s shortcomings. They weren’t doing this or they weren’t doing that. Suddenly it became about him and what he needed to do. Shortly after camp, the news broke that Johnson would be having ankle surgery and the only peep since has been about how he would prepare for the season. Maybe it’s getting back to the taste of competition that has him back to business; or just another preseason aberration of hope. Then again, maybe it’s real. Maybe he truly is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We will find out in a few months. Until then, stay tuned.