Ochocinco signs with the Alouettes

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Blue In BC
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Mixed feelings about what I think. That plus he's not a younger player any longer. Not many successful receivers still around at that age but there have been a few.

We'll see how it goes as a player and as public figure. If he pull it together, then good for him.
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WestCoastJoe
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http://blogs.theprovince.com/2014/04/18 ... ochocinco/
Uproar: Why the Lions said no to Ochocinco

April 18, 2014. 7:53 am • Section: The Fifth Quarter

The CFL and Montreal Alouettes got plenty of play with the signing of Chad Johnson this week (AP)

Posted by:
Lowell Ullrich

The temperature is nearly triple digits and the sunsets are usually spectacular in the Arizona desert, where Wally Buono is spending a few days this week between U.S. tryout camps for the Lions.

Do not think for a second the man is sweating, now that another CFL team has its hands on Chad Johnson after he decided to let him go off the Lions’ negotiation list.

What the 36-year-old receiver did by signing with the Montreal Alouettes after their mini-camp this week in Vero Beach, Fla., was provide another study in balancing a corporate philosophical belief and the need to win for survival.

The need is certainly no less for a team playing host to a Grey Cup this season with two new co-ordinators, and there’s not much doubt that Ochocinco would have sold B.C. tickets. But there was no way a team that brings awareness to domestic violence could have taken a chance on a player who has a rap sheet.

As they did with Khalif Mitchell, the Lions stood up on principle. They didn’t have as good a pass rush last season without Mitchell, but they won respect in the marketplace at the time.

B.C. had a chance to sign Johnson — worth remembering if he leads the Als into the Grey Cup at the end of the season. He was on the Lions’ negotiation list for about a week while they conducted their background check. Johnson made sure his three million followers knew about the situation on Twitter. He didn’t ask how he’d enter Canada.

The Lions also had another NFL receiver with big issues, Davone Bess, on their list for a few days even more recently, after the club was contacted by his agent, staying there just long enough for the Lions to investigate and conclude he’s not worth his excess baggage, either.

Bess is only 28 and would have been a huge upgrade. The Lions said no thanks anyways. Bess and Johnson, it should be noted, were once Miami teammates.

Obviously, anyone who can think back only as far as Yonus Davis will realize that no team is purrfect when it comes to picking players with purrfect resumés. Josh Boden didn’t find trouble because he was with the Lions, yet every time he shows up in court, the story in the paper the next day references his longest CFL stop. You don’t have to ask much more as to why teams get cautious, even though they realize a portion of the fan base will think an opportunity has been missed.

If the Lions wanted a 36-year-old receiver, they could have kept Geroy Simon. With seven veterans tossed overboard already during the current off-season, this was no winter to add anyone who is almost out of second chances.

What passing on Johnson proves is that the player who is past his prime is not always welcome, because even though there are those who act like teenagers gushing about lining up alongside an NFLer, there are teams that aren’t desperate. At least one team anyway.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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WestCoastJoe
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http://www.theprovince.com/sports/footb ... story.html
Decision time for B.C. Lions: Balancing talent with trouble

When it comes to signing high-profile players, pro football teams take a close look at their off-field lives

By Lowell Ullrich, The Province April 26, 2014

Decision time for B.C. Lions: Balancing talent with trouble


The Lions took a chance on 6-3, 288-pound offensive lineman Garry Sawatzky in 1995, signing a player who’d spent the previous nine years in jail for manslaugher. Just 17 when he left home and joined a bike gang, six years later the 6-3, 20 was convicted of second-degree manslaughter for stabbing an 18-year-old man to death in Winnipeg.

The means to measure the impact of a player with questionable character was really no less direct two decades ago, when Jamie Taras was a player on the B.C. Lions.

If your current job is community relations director of the CFL team and charged with shaping a positive image, you don’t soon forget your first encounter with a teammate who had committed the most heinous crime of all. Anyone on the Lions two decades ago will have a story to tell about Garry Sawatzky, the offensive lineman with a notorious past.

“He was in rookie camp,” Taras began. “There’s lots of testosterone in the locker-room. One day he’s trying to get on the phone and this guy is taking a long time. [Sawatzky] says, ‘I got to get on the phone’. The other guy asks him why. Garry says, ‘I’ve got to call my parole officer.’ He’s asked what he did. Garry says ‘I murdered someone.’

“He got the phone pretty fast.”

It didn’t take long once Sawatzky made the Lions and played his first game in 1995 to create an impression, and forming an opinion of a player is done in even less time now simply by reaching for your social media platform of choice.

But it’s no easier for pro sports teams now to balance personnel decisions that could result in significant on-field improvement at the possible expense of considerable damage to their reputation.

It’s why the Lions, however briefly, considered whether to sign 36-year-old NFL receiver Chad (Ochocinco) Johnson before releasing him off their negotiation list, allowing the Montreal Alouettes to take a chance. It was a question of character.

The decision on Johnson was understandably easy for the Lions, even though having a Pro Bowl player who only recently appeared on Dancing With The Stars and once had his own smartphone app would have guaranteed additional revenue.

No player, they say, is worth it if you promote awareness of domestic violence as a community initiative, as the Lions do with their Be More Than a Bystander program, and sign Johnson.

Before the Alouettes could post a YouTube video with Johnson comparing the Montreal vibe to that of the New England Patriots, pictures began reappearing showing the alleged abuse of his former wife, Evelyn Lozada, after a 2012 confrontation that cost Johnson not only his roster spot with the Miami Dolphins but a VH1 reality series starring the newlyweds.

It’s not as if the Lions are opposed to giving players a second chance, as no sooner did it become evident the team was researching Johnson when at least two others who have had character issues came onto their radar for consideration.

Each case is considered individually, Lions president Dennis Skulsky said, and goes beyond the simple standard of whether a player shows up in the front page of the paper as to whether he is signed.

“It’s chemistry within a locker-room, acceptance within a coaching staff and community,” Skulsky said. “Sure you’re conflicted. We want to win but it’s not win at all costs. We’ve chosen certain beliefs, and we have to walk the talk.”


Since passing on Johnson, the Lions have held internal discussions whether to sign defensive lineman Khalif Mitchell and another free agent with NFL ties, receiver Davone Bess. Mitchell was traded last season after making racially-insensitive remarks on Twitter. Bess was recently cut by the Cleveland Browns after being arrested in January on assault charges in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and has exhibited erratic behaviour on a couple of occasions.

Standard procedure for the Lions, explained general manager Wally Buono, is to put a free agent on their negotiation list, which provides teams an exclusive window to discuss the merits of a contract offer, and do a background check. Travis Lulay stayed on the list for more than year. Johnson was on for a week.

When Johnson told his 3.6 million Twitter followers he was on the list, he was given even less consideration than a former Miami teammate whose CFL rights also rested with the Lions briefly, lineman Jonathan Martin, who was bullied out of the Dolphins locker-room.

“That’s why I want [the neg list] private. My neg list is my bedroom,” Buono said. “We have to have some privacy in how we do our business. Chad Johnson doesn’t cause us any problem, but for the person who doesn’t like what we’re doing they’re criticizing us before we’ve ever done any analysis.”

Buono acted swiftly in the past when the club was made aware of past transgressions, releasing Yonus Davis and Ray Jacobs almost immediately after running afoul of law enforcement.

Not every team works the same way. In 2010, the NFL issued a personal conduct policy that stated teams and players must do more than simply avoid criminal behaviour.

The policy, in part, stated: “Every investigation, arrest, or other allegation of improper conduct undermines the respect for our league by our fans, lessens the confidence of our business partners and threatens the continued success of our brand.”

It doesn’t always work, though. The right of self-expression that has exploded through social media in recent years will mean teams will always be forced to hold up a moral compass, and they aren’t always going to get it right.

Taras knew that as a player, and had the thought reinforced when he was recently asked to give a talk to a group of local college football prospects.

“I said to them, ‘you’ve heard the expression that what goes on in the locker-room stays in the locker-room?’ They all had blank faces. That’s not true anymore,” said Taras. “Athletes are held to a higher standard because of the transparency.

“Our industry isn’t immune to violence against women nor is any organization. You deal with the situation, have an appropriate response and when reasonable give someone a second chance. Do you ever say you’ve lost your chance? Look at Sawatzky. He committed the most grievous crime and still got a second chance.”

And Ochocinco will get his second chance, just not with the Lions.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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notahomer
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Thanks for posting, WCJ.

Loved the parole officer story........ :rotf: Not too surprised he got the phone QUICK......
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This by Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk:

2012 no contest plea could keep Chad Johnson out of Canada
Posted by Mike Florio on April 28, 2014, 9:31 PM EDT

Receiver Chad Johnson finally has found a suitor. Now, he simply needs governmental clearance to consummate the deal.

According to Jason La Canfora of CBS, the Montreal Alouettes continues to wait for word on whether Johnson will be given the appropriate permit to work in Canada. The team could get final word within the next 7-10 days.

If Johnson can’t get a permit, Johnson can’t play in Canada. And if he can’t play in Canada, he can’t play anywhere.

Unless he wants to play in the Arena Football League.

Johnson last played in a pro football game that counts more than two years ago, as a member of the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. He was cut by the Dolphins during 2012 training camp after being arrested for assaulting his wife. He pleaded no contest to the charges.

And that could be what ultimately keeps Johnson out of Canada. People with criminal records routinely are blocked from securing permission to work in Canada. Johnson could circumvent the banishment by proving that he has been rehabilitated, among other potential exceptions.
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