Back on June 1st, Bob Gretz had an article on the Mothership titled "Odds and Ends", which included a section on former Cincinnati Bengals center and current Kansas City Chiefs center Eric Ghiaciuc. When asked about the distractions looming around Cincinnati last season, namely Chad Johnson's "Will-he or won't-he" attendance at the Bengals offseason program, Ghiaciuc said:
"As much as you try to focus on football with your day-to-day routine of meetings, lifting, walkthroughs, practices, games, you can focus but it’s still there," Ghiaciuc said of the distractions. "It’s like when you turn your head, it’s still behind you. I think we were doing our best to focus on what needed to be focused on in our profession, but it was there and it was a bit of a problem."
Now, you didn't expect someone to indirectly criticize Ochocinco without a comeback, did you? Per Mr. Ochocino when asked about Ghiaciuc:
"Ghiaciuc's play was a distraction. Of all people to call me that."
I'm not going to defend our new center because by plenty of accounts he's not a future Pro Bowler. But, really, Ochocinco? Since the NFL is a 'What have you done for me lately?' kinda league, let's see how you've been doing:
- 53 receptions
- 540 yards
- 4 touchdowns
- 10 games started
On the Chiefs, those numbers would be good enough to pit you in a heated training camp battle with Mark Bradley for the #2 receiver spot. What a joke.