Byline: TOM ZIEMER tziemer@madison.com 608-252-6174
GREEN BAY -- From an entertainment standpoint, Chad Ochocinco rarely disappoints.
Love him or loathe him, the brash Cincinnati Bengals receiver is about as unpredictable as you can get - which is why he has no problem understanding why more than 170,000 people are following him on the social networking Web site Twitter.
'I'm very interesting, very interesting, very different from the rest of the individuals that play this game,' he said Wednesday morning during a conference call with Wisconsin reporters 'and you just never know what I'm going to say, you never know what I'm going to do next.'
Here's one item that's on his list: scoring a touchdown Sunday and leaping into the Lambeau Field stands. That's generally a no-no for opposing players, but Ochocinco - formerly known as Chad Johnson before he legally changed his name last year - believes if there's one player who could be the exception, it's him.
'It's no disrespect, especially coming from me,' he said. 'You know how I am, man. I just go out there and have fun. I enjoy the Dog Pound (in Cleveland) when I jump in there. They embrace me, and I'm looking for the cheeseheads to embrace Ocho also.'
That proclamation should make Sunday's encounter all the more interesting. Cincinnati's passing game, led by quarterback Carson Palmer and Ochocinco, will provide another test for the Packers' new 3-4 defense.
Palmer missed most of last season with an elbow injury, which played a major role in Ochocinco enduring his worst statistical season (53 catches for 540 yards and four touchdowns) since his rookie year in 2001. He began last season saying he wanted out of Cincinnati, but spoke fondly of coach Marvin Lewis Wednesday. Lewis also said the pair's relationship turned around over the offseason.
In last week's season-opening loss to Denver, Ochocinco caught five passes for 89 yards, but failed to find the end zone. He said his Lambeau Leap goal is 'really a challenge for myself and for that defense and that secondary to stop me from doing what I'm coming in there to do, and that's to do everything I can to get us a 'W.' '
Ochocinco spoke highly of the Packers' secondary, a group that intercepted Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler three times in Green Bay's season-opening win over the Bears (defensive end Johnny Jolly had the other pick). He's friends with Green Bay cornerback Al Harris, but said he doesn't care who's lined up across from him.
'It doesn't matter who I see. They all will get the same treatment, which is the blessing,' Ochocinco said. 'That's the reason games are played on Sunday. ... They're going to miss church, so I will gladly bless them throughout the entire four quarters.'
Ochocinco also asked reporters to tell inside linebacker Nick Barnett, 'I'm coming for his head. I just want y'all to give him that message.'
While Barnett wasn't in the locker room when reporters were allowed in Wednesday - he and Ochocinco exchanged a flurry of what appeared to be good-natured Twitter messages later in the day - plenty of other Packers were informed of Ochocinco's Lambeau Leap intentions.
'I'm not even going to touch it,' outside linebacker Aaron Kampman said with a grin. 'But I'll just say I'm sure our fans will take care of that.'
Outside linebacker Brady Poppinga, an interesting character in his own right, came away impressed with Ochocinco after watching this year's season of the HBO series 'Hard Knocks,' which followed the Bengals through training camp.
'He's a funny dude,' Poppinga said. 'People ... say that he's this kind of dude, that he's a me, me kind of guy, but I thought he was pretty funny and I liked his personality. But at any rate, the fact is he's got obviously a Cincinnati Bengals jersey on and so ... if you get a shot at anybody with an opposing jersey, you've got to take it, regardless of who they are or what they represent.'
And Ochocinco doesn't just represent entertainment.
Before last season, he had posted six straight 1,000-yard seasons, catching 90-plus balls four times. He said Wednesday he's the hardest-working receiver in the league.
'He's a dynamic football player,' Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. 'You watch him run routes, you watch him play with the ball in his hands, he's a big-time football player, and that's really what our focus is on. All that other stuff, it's great for TV and that's why we're talking about it. But we watch the film, and he's a heck of a football player.'
CAPTION(S):
SCOTT HECKEL - The Repository (Canton, Ohio)
Chad Ochocinco took a leap into Cleveland's Dawg Pound in 2007 and received a beer shower.
