As I write this article, the professional life of Miami Dolphins’ Chad Johnson is pretty much over: he has no home or wife to go home to, no team to report to, no reality show to present to the world, and has a record and a reputation that are damaged to the core.
Before we permanently write him out of the books, let’s go back down memory lane with this controversial player.
Many moons ago, there was a player with the Cincinnati Bengals that didn’t do very much on the field yet always had many people talking about him.
He always managed to keep the NFL world on their toes with anticipation on what he would do next. So, after being released by the Bengals, he was picked up by the New England Patriots. He stayed with the team for a few seasons.
The sane result happened: he did very little on the field yet his name was still on everyone’s lips. Then, the Patriots did the same thing the Bengals did: they released him.
After a short time passed, he had one more shot with the Miami Dolphins. Now many people (including myself) thought he would make a turnaround. A wide amount of football fans was looking forward to seeing him play this season.
Well, just as his professional career has been rocky yet interesting, his personal life was the same way. He did have a show on the VH1 cable network by in which he was looking for love. Out of 24 women, he chose a lady named Ruby. Whatever happened between the couple, their relationship ended and he fell in love-and married- “Basketball Wives” star Evelyn Ladoza. They got married on the Fourth of July. He and Evelyn was to have their own television show based on their wedding.
Despite all the craziness that he went through both professionally and/or personally, he does have a sweet side. Prior to his wedding, a lady on Twitter, who lost her husband of 30 years, reached out to him and asked him to pray for her. Not only did he do that but the couple even invited her to the wedding.
With all that he had, in the blink of an eye, it’s all over for him.
On Saturday, August 11th, he was arrested for domestic violence against his wife. By Sunday, he was released by the Dolphins. By Monday, VH1 decided to not to air their television show. By Tuesday, not only did they both issue out statements in regards to the incident but Evelyn decided to end the marriage and filed for divorce.
Now do I agree with the Dolphins’ decision to cut him? That has a mixed response.
On one hand, as I stated earlier, all thirty two franchises are sick and tired of dealing with “mixed players”: players that have a whole lot of talent yet they also have a whole lot of baggage. Many people may agree with the following statement: “when a player’s antics and negative behavior overshadows their talents then it’s a huge problem.”
Now they could have probably waited until he was released from jail. Yet, as they say: “why hold off the inevitable?”
As for Chad Johnson, do I believe he can make a comeback? I do. After all, he has a lot of gas in the tank. Do I believe he wants to make a comeback? Well, that depends on him. He has a whole lot of soul searching and cleaning up to do prior to him even thinking about coming back to the NFL. Do I believe that there’s a team that will pick him up? Now that answer we will all have to tune in for.
As I stand over his casket which holds his professional career and his personal life in it, I place a kiss on it before it’s lowered into the ground. Maybe one day he will rise like the Phoenix out of the ashes but only time will tell.
Until we meet again, may your days be sweet and your nights are sinful and delicious.
-Sophia Stanton-Cross
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