Ocho Cinco will cost Bengals receiver Chad Johnson mucho dinero. The NFL confirmed yesterday that it fined him $5,000 for wearing his uniform number in Spanish — ocho for eight and cinco for five — on the back of his jersey during warm-ups before a game last week against Atlanta. Johnson had the Spanish numbers placed over the "C. Johnson" until Carson Palmer ripped it off before the game. Former Bengals safety David Fulcher, who serves as the NFL uniform-conformity officer for games, warned Johnson to remove the "Ocho Cinco" before the game or face league discipline. Apparently, the damage had already been done. NFL spokesman Steve Alic said Johnson violated the rule that prohibits players from displaying personal messages on their jerseys. Johnson wouldn’t talk about the potential fine with local reporters, but in a conference call with Baltimore Ravens media, he said he was surprised by it. "I don’t understand why there was a fine when I didn’t play in the game with it," he said. "It was just for pregame entertainment only. I felt it was a classic. That will go down in history as one of the best ever. I don’t see how you get fined for something like that." After staying subdued by his standards, Johnson adopted the "Ocho Cinco" persona last week in anticipation of his matchup with Atlanta Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall. This week, Johnson has been back to his lower-key self for a game Sunday in Baltimore, although he threw a jab at Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, a fellow Miami native. "The agenda?" Johnson said. "Hit him in the mouth." Simmons downgraded
The neck injury that has nagged middle linebacker Brian Simmons for three weeks is apparently not getting better. The veteran was downgraded from questionable to doubtful for a game Sunday. Simmons unexpectedly missed the Tampa Bay game Oct. 15 and saw limited action against Carolina and Atlanta. Rookie Ahmad Brooks has played well as Simmons’ replacement. Brooks, a talented player who was kicked off the Virginia team for numerous indiscretions, joined the Bengals as a supplemental draft pick. The team intended to groom him slowly, and he didn’t play in the first two games. But he has drawn the praise of coach Marvin Lewis. Brooks was credited with 14 tackles in making his starting debut and totaled 17 the past two weeks. More injury news Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph (ankle/probable) participated in team drills yesterday for the first time this week. Ravens tight end Todd Heap (thigh) was upgraded from questionable to probable. Columbus Dispatch http://columbusdispatch.com/bengals/bengals.php?story=dispatch/2006/11/04/20061104-E8-02.html |
