Bengals legend Chad Johnson explains how he knew Ja'Marr Chase would be special
Not many NFL players in the history of football talked the talk and walked the walk quite like Chad Johnson. The six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver who spent a decade with the Cincinnati Bengals knows better than anyone how to back up his words.The next great Bengals receiver to come after Johnson, A.J. Green, didn't […]
Not many NFL players in the history of football talked the talk and walked the walk quite like Chad Johnson. The six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver who spent a decade with the Cincinnati Bengals knows better than anyone how to back up his words.
The next great Bengals receiver to come after Johnson, A.J. Green, didn't have that personality trait. But the guy who arrived after Green certainly does.
Ja'Marr Chase is certainly his own player, and his own man. He made that clear on the day he was drafted, proclaiming that he was going to break every receiving record the Bengals have. That would mean surpassing Johnson on a few lists.
It was at that moment when Johnson knew Chase would be the player he's become, if it wasn't already likely to begin with.
"I knew Ja'Marr was special," Johnson said at Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson's charity softball game. "I knew he was special when he made the comments before he even touch the football field, before he even got into Cincinnati, was he was going to break every record. That is a man of extreme confidence that many people– you can't carry. You can't carry that because then you have to live up to it."
The franchise's record-holder for receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns made an image of being boisterous and having more fun on the field than anyone else. But Johnson knew how to back up all the talk. Chase does as well, posting over 3,000 receiving yards in his first two seasons that includes seven playoff performances.
Chase is off to an undeniably great start to breaking all of Johnson's records, and the man who named himself "Ochocinco" is here for all of it.
"So many people don't walk and talk," Johnson continued. "The fact that he was able to walk it before he got here let me know he was about business, and I'm enjoying it every step of the way."
Even after several years of retirement, Johnson has become a consistent presence with the modern Bengals teams. He's got relationships with Chase and all of the current stars wearing Orange and Black.
If anyone knows how Chase has been able to dominate so quickly, it's the guy who did it 20 years ago wearing the same helmet.
Featured image via © Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
