His departure didn’t last as long as his initial stay, apparently.
Former NFL receiver Chad Johnson tells Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he’ll be returning to the Browns after a short absence to continue working with the team. And he doesn’t plan to leave again.
“You really thought I was leaving?'' Johnson said. “This is the funny thing. Hue Jackson allowed me to come in as an intern. I never told Hue I was leaving, so he’s stuck with me until they force me to leave. I’ll be here through January.’'
Johnson’s explanation conflicts with Jackson’s, who downplayed Johnson’s departure as something the head coach was expecting.
Johnson said he left because he needed to fly to Houston to explain to his 12-year-old daughter that he couldn’t be at the Junior Olympics this week. Cha’iel Johnson, via Cabot, is one of the best sprinters in her age group in the world.
“I had to explain to her, ‘You’ve got to go out there and run well and be able to do so without me being here because I have to be in Cleveland,’' Johnson said. “That’s something I needed to be able to tell my daughter face to face, not over the phone, not via text and she has to understand that Daddy has to work. She’s one of the fastest in the world and it would kill her for me not to be there.’'
That’s fine, but if Johnson is going to coach on a full-time basis he needs to realize that plenty of personal sacrifices will have to be made, because the hours are much longer, the pay is much lower, and the glory is much more scarce than it is for players.