It'll cost mucho dinero for Chad Ocho Cinco to switch jerseys
Don't expect to see Chad Johnson Ocho Cinco wearing his new
name on a jersey anytime soon. CNBC's Darren Rovell reports on his blog that the
former Mr. Johnson would be forced to
buy out the stock of the 100,000 remaining "C. Johnson" jerseys before
making the switch to "Ocho Cinco". If Reebok asked Ocho Cinco to pay for the
cost of making the unsold jerseys, the total could reach upwards of $4 million
(or $50 million pesos).
Because Johnson changed his name so close to the
start of the season, Reebok was left in a bind since they'd have to produce new
jerseys and eat the old ones. That's why the NFL has told Johnson he'd have to
reimburse the company for the price of the jerseys. That's not unprecedented,
rookie linebacker Keith
Rivers did it last week when he changed his uniform number. Of course,
Rivers didn't have thousands of jerseys with his name on it on sales racks
nationwide.
This whole charade, of course, is pretty ridiculous. It's tough
to defend Johnson, as he's so narcissistic that he makes T.O. look like Mother
Teresa. And the NFL is so blatant in their attempts to block Johnson from
donning his new name on the back of his Bengals jersey that it almost seems
beneath them. Sure, it's inane and self-serving and could set a bad precedent,
but shouldn't the league be focusing on more important issues, like stopping
players from celebrating touchdowns?
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