Chad Johnson has a way with words, one that has taken him from stardom with the Cincinnati Bengals to podcast stardom and the ESPN airwaves.
And while not everyone would associate “Ochocinco” with MLB takes, that’s the job when you’re on a general sports talk show like First Take. On the panel with Stephen A. Smith and his partner-in-crime Shannon Sharpe on Monday’s edition of the debate show, Johnson served up a very characteristically Ochocinco comparison to hitting a baseball.
“The two most difficult things in life are hitting a baseball and keeping a woman happy long term,” Johnson chortled while (in theory) comparing Travis Hunter to Shohei Ohtani.
If we’ve learned anything from the incredible success of Sharpe and Johnson’s collaboration on Nightcap, it’s that Johnson wants to talk about his emotional interior. Whether it’s sharing the messy details of his engagement or shedding a tear over the Bengals, Johnson is at his best when he’s the main character.
Johnson’s tendency to give the audience TMI was best illustrated during Super Bowl week in an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show that led to Johnson joining First Take this week. When he wasn’t campaigning to debate Smith, he was revealing to Smith that he had recently had an enlargement procedure downstairs after a mishap with his fiancee.
The image of Johnson getting busy alongside footage of an Ohtani home run is an odd one, but Johnson’s point made sense. He is an odd fit on First Take, but Ochocinco keeps people’s attention.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.