Ironically, Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson’s most sincere, compelling TV appearance was not the media time he was looking for when he agreed to do the now dead-before-airing Vh1 series, Ev and Ocho. It was on another show.
Ideally, the best reality television is able to catch lightning in a bottle by being there when things get truly real. For NFL Films, producers of the Hard Knocks series, that happened after Chad Johnson’s recent domestic violence arrest, and the inevitability of his release from the Miami Dolphins.
The vignette begins with Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin talking to the producers about how the scene would work, then explaining on the phone to someone — most likely a team executive — exactly what was about to happen, and saying that Johnson’s “temperament wasn’t good” for the team. Johnson then entered Philbin’s office, and he seemed to know what was coming.
“I let you down a little bit — a lot,” Johnson told Philbin. ” I understand what you’re doing — you got the message across loud and clear the first day we met. I [understood] what you wanted out of me and what you expected of me, especially after our talk about having fun. I apologize for embarrassing you and this organization.”
“I appreciate that, and I respect that,” Philbin responded. “I know you’re very passionate, and I know you care about your profession. I hope you know that everything I do, to the best of my ability, I attempt to put some thought behind what we do.”
Early on, this resembled more of a philosophical discussion, and one wonders if this discussion had taken place without what Johnson had done, whether Philbin and Johnson might have been able to bridge the gap. But Johnson’s actions clearly put that past the Dolphins, and it was time to move on.
“I don’t know if this is working for the benefit of you, me, or the Miami Dolphins,” Philbin told Johnson. “I think you’re a good person, and trust me, I acknowledge that people make mistakes…”
Read more: Doug Farrar, Yahoo
