Sad and getting sadder.
The stunts. The comments. The once-prominent NFL career that keeps spiraling down the drain.
"Let's try soccer," said the voice of no reason in Chad Ochocinco's head. "You're a good enough athlete to make this work. And, best of all, it will bring you attention while everything's shut down in the NFL!"
It brought Ochocinco attention, all right ... just enough to show that he had no business on a soccer field.
Snakes? Anything but snakes
With soccer and bull riding now off Chad Ochocinco's bucket list, he has drawn inspiration from Bengals owner Mike Brown, who suggested he next wrangle snakes. **More...**
Sad and getting sadder.
"OK, let's try something else," the voice of no reason said. "How about bull riding? Dangerous stuff. Gets the blood pumping. And, best of all, it will bring you more attention!"
Bad idea No. 2 was over in less than two seconds, with Ochocinco on the ground and lucky to have avoided being trampled.
Sad and getting sadder.
Now we await bad idea No. 3, which has a pretty good chance of being the worst of them all: snake wrangling. This one didn't come directly from the voice of no reason in Ochocinco's head. It came from Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown, who, in discussing the wide receiver at the NFL Spring Meeting earlier this week, said, "Next maybe he'll be a snake wrangler and we'll watch to see if he gets bit."
That presumably was a joke, but, if Ochocinco's Twitter posts can be believed, he'll indeed try his hand at wrangling snakes. Deadly snakes, such as a black mamba and a king cobra.
Once again, it's all about gaining attention, which, for Ochocinco, is what has steadily become more of his calling card than catching passes. It's hard to see him having a future in Cincinnati. When Brown says, "Chad has a genius for bringing notice to himself," it's pretty clear he doesn't mean it as a compliment.
The real question is, does Ochocinco have a future anywhere else? How many other owners and general managers and coaches are as turned off by his look-at-me sideshow as Brown and Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, after whom Ochocinco had planned to name the bull?
And if this latest stunt actually comes off and goes like the first two did, Ochocinco might not have to worry about catching another pass ... or what he'll attempt for bad idea No. 4.
Sad and getting sadder.
Follow Vic Carucci on Twitter @viccarucci.