Former Dolphin Johnson More A Distraction After His Release

For the most part, when Chad Johnson was running both his legs and his mouth around the Miami Dolphins training camp, he was loose and the players around him seemed to be the same.  Many thought CJ would be a major disruptive force in Miami with his showboating nature.  Turns out, he has been more of a distraction since his release on Sunday.  Simply put:  Chad Johnson is gone, but far from forgotten.

Consider that prior to his release, head coach Joe Philbin answered questions regarding Chad’s ability to adjust to the new playbook.  He talked about the X’ and O”s of his WR’s.  Since CJ’s release, it’s pretty much been a non-stop “was that the final straw?” type of questions.  Seriously, do you know anything going on in camp?  In the last four days we have been informed about CJ’s arrest, his lock-up, his bail hearing, his presumed innocence, the release, the video of his being walked out, the opinion around camp regarding him being released, when Joe Phiblin would talk to him, his release, the 911 call, Joe Philbin’s decision, and finally Karlos Dansby speaking out about how CJ shouldn’t be judged so early.  Hell even the Jacksonville Jaguars weren’t immune to Johnson’s follies.  A member of their squad took to Twitter asking why Johnsons wife would call 911 knowing that that stuff will truly hurt an NFL players career.

Did I miss anything?

The reality here is that Chad Johnson now knows what it’s like to be treated like an average fan.  The fact that most of us all would have been fired immediately from our job for a similar incident is rarely seen in professional sports.  Some will argue that the due process of the legal system should have been factored into the decision to release him.  At the very least the lack of proven guilt over perceived innocence should have been taken into account.  The Dolphins knew more about that incident than any of us did but the reality is this was not a one strike and your out situation.

Chad Johnson took obvious exception to his being chastised on HBO HardKnocks by Philbin and refused to talk the media the following morning yet blatantly backtracked from the Philbin caution to post a non-verbal image of the same actions on his Twitter account.  As if in complete indifference to his coaches subtle warnings.

So Johnson is gone and while he has been the talk of the Phins for the last few days, his image will likely be front and center of tonight’s 2nd HBOHK edition.  Dansby will also likely be seen having a “talk” with Joe Philbin as well.  Then tomorrow everyone can talk about him all over again and then maybe it will all finally just go away and we can get back to the business of Miami Dolphins football.

So how are you doing?