It is no secret to anyone who knows me for more than about a minute, that I'm a big Chad Ochocinco fan. Yeah, he runs his mouth, but it's all in good fun, and he is a talented football player. But, funny goes a long way with me, even in football (see Peyton Manning's SNL appearance).
But, I also love Ocho because he has a heart. I follow him on Twitter, and he's always inviting fans to dinner or movies - anyone who shows up is on him. Even more significantly, former teammate TJ Houshmandzadeh had this to say about him:
"He truly does care about his fans. I remember one time we saw somebody whose car had broken down, and Chad talked to the guy about football and gave him, like $200 to deal with his car. Another time, really early in our careers, we were doing something in the community and had a limo; Chad had the driver take us into the 'hood in Cincy. He saw these three kids throwing a football and said, 'Where are your parents at?' He got permission to take the kids shopping at Deveroes. He hooked them up - shoes, video game consoles and more. Just because." (Sporting News Magazine)
What happened recently, though, beats out any story you've heard for the Good Guy of the Year award.
A few months or so ago, a nine year old boy named Ruben, who lives with his mother in a New York City homeless shelter, wrote a fan letter to Ocho, and received an autographed jersey in return. That's kinda nice by itself. But the story gets better.
Ruben wrote a second letter to Ocho, that in the words of one Yahoo blogger, would have "melted the heart of the hardest individual":
Mr. Johnson, you really make me happy. One of my goals in my future life is to be just like you when I grow up. I wonder who was your role model when you were little? I have three role model(s) in my life that's my mom, Mr. President Barack Obama and my favorite football player Mr. Chad Johnson. To me you are the best football player in the NFL. May God bless you and your family happy holidays.
Then, as part of the Children Mending Hearts charity program, Ruben was awarded his dream trip to a football camp, thanks to the generosity of Deion Sanders. But, what Ruben didn't know was that Ochocinco was actually going to present the award.
How many NFL players do you know that would take the time out to meet with a little boy?
And, as if the story could even get any better, that day was also Ruben's birthday. And Ocho led the crowd in "Happy Birthday." (You can watch the whole video at the end of this post - it's worth watching. My words do not do it justice.)
I don't care if Chad never scores another touchdown in his life, he'll still be my favorite, because he cares about people. And that goes a lot further than 100 yards.
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