It was, um, fun while it lasted...
There was some speculation this afternoon as to why New England Patriots WR Chad Ochocinco was not present during team OTA’s. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported initially that he wasn’t with the team because of an eye doctor’s appointment. Schefter then reported that after the Pats got no offers in a trade for Ochocinco, they released him. Ouch.
Ochocinco confirmed the release this afternoon, rather comically, via Twitter. He tweeted, “Thoroughly enjoyed the oppurtunity to play for the “Patriot” organization… fans were [expletive] wicked awesome, I wish all of you the best…” And then sometime today he changed the bio of his twitter account to “Unemployed Black Guy.”
Can anyone say they are surprised here? I know I for one called this last season when Ochocinco was traded from the Bengals to the Patriots after the lockout. In his last season with the Bengals, he posted only 831 yards and 4 TDs in 14 games. In 2011 with New England he racked up a whopping 15 receptions for 276 yards, and 1 lonely TD. Ochocinco was known to struggle with the Patriots playbook this season.
With his dwindling stats, and the fact the Pats could find no takers in a trade for him, I’ll go on a limb and say his football career is over.Perhaps now he can focus full time on his reality show career.
