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Ocho Cinco: What Football and Life Have Thrown My Way

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I recently decided to read Ocho Cinco: What Football and Life Have Thrown My Way, by Chad Ochocinco. He's always been one of my favorite players in all of football, and since I love to read, this was a good as time as any to kill two birds with one stone.

The first thing about this book is it's pretty honest. He goes into detail about his journey through football, as well as the path he took to where he wanted to go. It certainly wasn't conventional, but it was the way he took, and thanks to some luck, supportive people, and the drive to get to where he wanted to be, he made it, and has thrived in the NFL. He's honest about his issues with the Bengals (past and present), and when it comes to him, he truly wants to win.

The balance that comes from this book is due to having his peers, his coaches, family members, and friends speak for him. He may be talking about his journey to Santa Monica College, and his old position coach would have a section in there where he speaks about him. Another thing I can appreciate about this book is when other people speak about him, they weren't excusing all of his behavior. You're able to see they all have their opinions of him, but they all root it in the fact that he's a good guy. It's not to say he's made the right choices. In the book, he talks about his challenges of being a better father to his kids. Even though he didn't grow up with his, there are no excuses on his part for a lack of a father in his life. He seems to know right from wrong (and honestly, it doesn't have to be looked at as wrong; maybe just not the best decision), but he usually finds a way to make the best decision, even if the road to get there takes longer than some people would like.

A theme that may be underrated is that people should have fun, and do what they enjoy doing. He's a football player, but not only that, he loves life, he works hard at his craft, and loves to have fun while doing his job. You'll see that as a continuous theme in the pages; people should love what they do every day, and have a blast while doing it. Some of the stuff is a little out there (the whole "Planet Chad" thing in the last chapter), but honestly, it aint no different than Wonkaland in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, or whatever that place was at the end of 40-Year-Old Virgin, after Andy marries `ol girl. The dude just loves life and lives it to the fullest. The book doesn't come across as fraud, or self-serving, which is not easy to do when you're telling your own story. I will say that it's authentic, in the sense that you feel like you're having a conversation with him, and it can sometimes jump from topic-to-topic with no warning, but if you don't let it deter you, then it's all good. After reading it now, and seeing how his team having such a great season, it looks like this is all coming together, even though it wasn't as planned, but as it is with the dude, there's nothing conventional about him, except that he loves to live and have fun.

I liked the quote that he had on the front flap behind the front cover of this book, where he said that when you want to live your life outside the box people don't like it. Which explains his NFL career thus far where many of his TD celebrations are unorthodox and "out there", and stuffy old people or conservative fans and media alike can't take it.

Chad reminds me of myself in that he isn't interested in being like everyone else, he wants to be different. Its just too bad we live in a world that demands conformity. Anyway do yourself a favor and read this book you may learn some things about him that you like and some things that you never knew about him.

One of the best things about him is that he tries to stay in his four kids' lives as much as he can. Also one of the more interesting things about him is that deep down inside he is a gentle soul and he isn't afraid to let you know about.

Thank you Chad for a good read, but it would have been nice if you talked more about your outstanding one year at Oregon State.

Bought this for my wife, who admires the self assured attitude of Chad. Read it myself and actually liked it.
Well written, and explains pretty much how Chad became Chad....

I recommend it

Chad Johnson goes all the way through from kid to professional NFL football player to show the inside details of the ups and downs of getting there. He explains the relationships he had with the people who helped him get there (like Bob Bratkowski). He even lets these people have their own word to explain about Chad.

Yeah, this is Chad Johnson so its got his flare. But keep in mind, in his own words, "I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs". Its light reading. Whatever. Its also very honest. It shows too that he was motivated in some of the right ways and he did get to the big stage. And it shows where maybe he could have been even better but for personal flaws (which we all have) that he is open to share about. Planet Chad. Well worth the read by me.

I am writing this review for one of my classes at Oklahoma State. I read OchoCinco about a year ago and absolutely fell in love. Chad Ochocinco is one of my favorite athletes so when this book came out I had to go buy it. I think that alot of athletes are stuck on themselves and yes Chad is one of them, but I think this book shows a different side that not many people get to see. He is honest and tells his life story the way he lived it and I respect that.

-Brooke

"My life is good. It's sweet, so sweet. Roll up to my place in Plantation, Florida, and that's easy to see. Right there in the circular driveway that wraps around the fountain in my front yard you get the first taste.

Wait a second, I gotta let you in the front gate first. It's a gated community and all. But once you're in and riding by my huge-ass house on an acre of land, you can see what I'm saying. Parked in front are seven sweet-ass cars. One for every day of the week. I don't like to get bored, you know?"

This is how Chad Ochocinco's book Ocho Cinco: What Football and Life Have Thrown My Way begins.

And it doesn't get much better the next 259 pages. I originally requested that my wife buy me this book because slowly, but surely, Chad Ochocinco (a wide receiver with the Cincinnatti Bengals) has won me over as a fan. His antics on the field are legendary and I felt like it would be interesting to read more about who he was and where he came from.

What I ended up getting was a hardcover diatribe about how great Chad Ochocinco (formerly Johnson) really is. There were entire sections dedicated to how amazing he is. For instance, one chapter deals almost solely with a three game span in 2006 that Ochocinco had where he posted NFL record stats. Supposedly, underlying all of this was his frustration with losing while he was putting up such huge numbers. While I understand what he was trying to say, four paragraphs of how great you were versus one paragraph of "...but it didn't matter because we lost..." doesn't really get your point across. If it didn't matter, then why ramble about it for so long.

Ochocinco also manages to create a disjointed book in that he changes gears as though you were having a conversation with him, not reading a book. For example, he can be in the middle of raving about how good he is, only to pause to ruminate on something else football related, and then transition back to the original train of thought by saying something "Anyway, as I was saying..."

Ochocinco is an abject lesson in self-aggrandizement. I understand that he has a huge ego, but the need to gather up dozens of coaches and players around the NFL to submit articles writing about how you "can't be covered" or how "misunderstood" you are is in poor taste. It took me, literally, a month to force my way through this book. I had to consciously stop myself from skipping ahead in a bid to finish this atrocity. Ochocinco's book is so bad, is has disuaded me from reading any sports biography for a while. I need time to read something excellent like World War Z to get the taste of Ochocinco: What Football and Life Have Thrown My Way out of my mouth.

is what i think. Can't even get myself to pick up these book with these cover. Change the cover and i will buy the book. And when will it be "Hachijuu go" pronounced: "hah-chee-joo go" or "here comes ochocinco" in ChadChad...