Topic: Chad Johnson

Chad Javon Johnson Ochocinco (born January 9, 1978, in Miami, Florida) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League and an MLS soccer player currently on the reserve team for Sporting Kansas City. He was drafted by the Bengals in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oregon State.

Ochocinco has been selected to the Pro Bowl six times and named an All-Pro three times. He legally changed his surname from Johnson to Ochocinco prior to the 2008 regular season to reflect the two numerals on his Bengals uniform. While he references his last name as two words "Ocho Cinco", his legal last name is condensed into one word, as spelled on his name change application.

After graduating from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1996, Johnson attended Langston University, a historically black university in Langston, Oklahoma, but did not play football. In 1997 he transferred to Santa Monica College, a community college in Santa Monica, California, where he was a teammate of future Carolina Panthers star wide receiver Steve Smith. In 2000, he transferred to Oregon State University after being aggressively recruited by coach Dennis Erickson. Alongside future Bengals teammate T. J. Houshmandzadeh, he led his team to an 11-1 season and a victory over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl that year. He also broke a school record for the longest touchdown reception with a 97-yard reception in a game against Stanford University.