Receiver Chad Ochocinco has at least one thing (and possibly only one thing) in common with his former quarterback in New England: Both men hope to play football beyond their 40th birthdays.
Ochocinco, 34, tells Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the Dolphins wideout plans to demonstrate that he can keep it going for at least six more seasons.
“I’m going to play ‘til I’m 40 years old, and this year I’m going to show the world I can,” Ochocinco said.
On Wednesday, he’ll show the world he can make a commitment, by getting married. The St. Martin nuptials will be filmed as part of a VH1 reality show. (He’ll also be live-tweeting the affair to his 3.5 million Twitter followers.)
According to Kelly, Ochocinco will be changing his name back to Johnson as part of his wedding. (The league and Nike may have something to say about that, depending on the number of “Ochocinco” jerseys already in the inventory.)
After the wedding, it will be time for Ochocinco to get down to the business of proving that 2011 was an aberration.
“There is physically nothing wrong with me. I want to race Clyde [Gates] right now, Ochocinco said, referring to a teammate who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.31 seconds at the Scouting Combine. “I’ve asked him. I’ve still got it. I’m a lot smarter and I’m still fast.”
And Chad is comfortable again. He says everything fits perfectly with the Dolphins, who have given him the green light to go back to being himself.
Those factors will help him get to the most of his potential in 2012, whatever that may be.