Chad Johnson Fined $20,000 For Making Bribery Joke
Posted by Media Outrage on November 14, 2009
Chad Ochocinco was fined $20,000 by the NFL for acting like he was going to bribe a ref with a dollar bill.
Via Yahoo:
The artful use of a folded bill can get people past a long line at a club, seated quickly at a restaurant with a 45-minute wait or, as countless detective shows have demonstrated, a good piece of information from a cab driver with a hazy memory. As Chad Ochocinco found out today, it will not get you a call during an NFL game.
The impish Cincinnati Bengals receiver playfully tried to bribe an NFL official today during his team’s game with its division rival, the Baltimore Ravens. With the Cincinnati Bengals up 14-3 in the third quarter, Ochocinco caught a 15-yard Carson Palmer pass near the sideline. The side judge ruled it a catch, but the Ravens contended that Ochocinco’s foot was out of bounds. While the ref was under the hood looking at the replay, Ochocinco borrowed a dollar bill from an assistant and playfully tried to hand the one-spot to another official.
Ochocinco was smiling the entire time and, as you can see above, the official put a stop to the hijinks before they really began. It didn’t work, the ref overturned the call on the field and ruled that the pass was incomplete.
You’re either going to be in one of two camps with this. Either you think it’s hilarious (like me) or you think that the mere appearance of bribery toward officials is uncouth and needs to be dealt with swiftly. Judging by his track record, Roger Goodell will fall firmly in the latter camp. Expect a fine for Ochocinco, even though nobody will seriously think that this was ever meant to be anything but a goof.
Via Yahoo:
Chad Ochocinco is going to need 19,999 more dollar bills to pay off the fine resulting from his attempted bribe Sunday during the Cincinnati Bengals-Baltimore Ravens game.
According to Chris Mortensen, the NFL fined Ochocinco $20,000 for his tongue-in-cheek attempt to alter the outcome of a replay review that was looking to see whether he had two feet in bounds on a play ruled a reception. Ochocinco’s use of the word “bribe” in a post-game press conference was said to have played a large role in determining the amount of the fine.
The fact that the NFL levied a fine isn’t surprising. This is a league that devotes pages in its rulebook to regulate how much players can celebrate after scoring a touchdown, so that it showed no sense of humor was to be expected. And while the fine is way too high, we understand that the league wanted it to act as a deterrent so the appearance of impropriety won’t become an issue again.
But the Commish doth protest too much, methinks. Really, did anyone think this was serious? Were people going to make the connection between a clear Ochocinco joke and a conspiracy to fix games? The only reason we’re still talking about this is because the NFL extended the conversation by levying the fine. This story had cycled out of the news by Monday morning. Now it’s cycling again and will probably be discussed on sports blogs and on PTI today and on Sunday morning pre-game shows. By fining Ochocinco, the NFL did exactly what it didn’t want to do: bring attention to gambling.
November 14, 2009 at 4:21 pm
It was funny…but you know how the NFL is!
November 14, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Chad has a great sense of humor. The league would be so boring without him.
November 14, 2009 at 5:58 pm
They need to fine him another $20,000 on for that hideous look.
November 14, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Meant to say “$20,000 for that hideous look”
November 14, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Sounds like something that those “tight-asses” in the NFL would charge for a simple joke…..where’s the since of humor nowadays!
Fine me $20,000 for offering the referee $20,000…..not for a fuckin’ dollar!!
November 14, 2009 at 7:34 pm
$20,000.00?..R u serious? I think it’s ridiculous, but since they want to be that “PETTY”, they should “DONATE” the money towards the homeless and help animal shelters as well!
November 14, 2009 at 11:46 pm
WHY ARE SPORTS BECOMING SO UPTIGHT??
He is just “spicing up” the game!!
I thought it was funny….
November 15, 2009 at 1:45 am
I co-sign w/ Yvonne..
Grills are so Nelly.
November 15, 2009 at 4:04 am
Damn that’s messed up!
Can’t stand the NFL’s, uptight, no sense of humor having asses!
November 15, 2009 at 4:17 pm
lol @ Yvonne! OchoCinco a vraiment de l’argent a bruler!!!