FanHouse Chad Ocho Cinco

CINCINNATI -- Chad Ochocinco is taking some of the credit for the fact that Bengals fans in this area will be able to see the team play on TV on Sunday, and it appears he does have something to do with it. On Thursday the Bengals asked for (and got) a one-day extension of the league's deadline for selling out Sunday's home game against the Houston Texans. Had they not done so by Friday afternoon, the game would have been blacked out in the local market. And as of Thursday night, about 3,000 tickets remained unsold.

But at 1:08 p.m. Eastern time, Ochocinco announced on his Twitter page that he and Motorola had bought the remaining tickets and would be giving them away. Problem solved.

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LOS ANGELES -- Carson Palmer is certain about two things: Electing not to have invasive "Tommy John" reconstructive surgery on his damaged throwing elbow was a wise decision.

And the Bengals quarterback will not allow Twitter-loving, attention-grabbing wide receiver and teammate Chad Ochocinco to move into his Southern California home so that the two can do some male-bonding and work out in the backyard before Cincinnati's rookies and veterans report to training camp on July 30.

No way. Forget it.

Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco claims that he will tweet during games no matter what the NFL says. The NFL bans cellular devices in the bench area, and Ochocinco risks fines for ignoring such a ban. Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk suggests that openly defying the NFL policy might even lead to suspension. These days, it's hard to say what the NFL commissioner might do.

Ochocinco certainly isn't afraid of fines as some of his fined behavior is the reason that even non-NFL fans know who he is. So how can he get his tweet on during games at OGOchoCinco without getting fined?

If you're HBO, it's hard to think of a team you'd rather have on "Hard Knocks" more than the Cincinnati Bengals. You're guaranteed to have at least one Chad Ocho Cinco meltdown, it might explain what Mike Brown does, or doesn't do, for his general manager's bonus and with this roster there's likely to be some Andre Smith man-boob action. And that doesn't even count the possibility of a Bengals' arrest--which is always a pretty good possibility.

But it's hard to figure out why the Bengals would want to get the Hard Knocks treatment, because you're guaranteed at least one Ocho Cinco meltdown, it might explain what Mike Brown does, or doesn't do, for his general manager's bonus and with this roster there's likely to be some Andre Smith man-boob action. And that doesn't even count the possibility of a Bengals' arrest--which is always a pretty good possibility.

The Cincinnati Bengals pick sixth in the NFL Draft this weekend. While there is a lot of talk about the Bengals drafting a lineman (either offensive or defensive), one has to look at the future of wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco and think that it has a lot to do with the team's draft plans.

After rolling out the tears to former teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Ocho Cinco may have thought he was closer to the trade out of Cincinnati that he seems to desire. Unfortunately for the receiver, his head coach doesn't see it that way.

There have been some big trades in the NFL lately, mainly involving guys who wanted to get away from the team they had been playing for.

Quarterback Jay Cutler was dealt from Denver to Chicago, netting the Broncos a nice haul of draft picks and Kyle Orton. Over the weekend, the Buffalo Bills got a couple of picks from Philadelphia for disgruntled left tackle Jason Peters. Wide receivers Braylon Edwards and Anquan Boldin are currently on the block, and now it looks as though Chad Ocho Cinco would apparently love to be, too.

After watching their team flounder to a 4-11-1 record -- largely without him -- in 2008, Bengals fans likely can't wait to see Carson Palmer healthy and leading their offense again.

Based on what we heard during the start of offseason workouts Monday, Palmer is on the right track. In fact, he's more than just on the right track. Palmer says he's ready to go.

Back during Super Bowl week, Bengals receiver Chad Ocho Cinco said he would take part in all team off-season activities.

Instead of believing he had turned over a new leaf, most were skeptical. After all, the wide receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson has made a habit out of marching to the beat of his own drummer. Seemingly, no one in Cincinnati believed him, as there appears to be zero surprise to the fact that Ocho Cinco is a no-show for the start of voluntary workouts.

On Monday, the Seahawks signed T.J. Houshmandzadeh to a five-year, $40 million deal. Great news for Seattle -- Matt Hasselbeck will finally have a legit pass-catching threat (a seldom-healthy Deion Branch doesn't count) -- but the Bengals were suddenly down to Chad Ocho Cinco in the reliable wide receiver department. (Yikes.)

Apparently, the thought of starting the season with Chris Henry, Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell was enough to motivate historically cheap Bengals owner Mike Brown into action, presumably at the behest of head coach Marvin Lewis. Whatever the impetus, Cincy has a new-old Houshmandzadeh: Laveranues Coles. Via NFL.com's Adam Schefter, Coles signed a four-year, $28 million contract.

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T.J. Houshmandzadeh finally made his free agency choice today, taking the Seattle Seahawks up on their offer to pay him $40 million ($15 million guaranteed) over five years.

From a football perspective, Housh's decision is huge: the Seahawks are immediately made better while the Bengals, well, hey, at least they're the Bengals. From a fantasy perspective though, this makes things extremely interesting.