Tedy Bruschi Urges Ochocinco to Stop Tweeting

From WEEI.com writer Christopher Price's "It Is What It Is" Blog

Former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi ripped wide receiver Chad Ochocinco on Tuesday, telling Ochocinco to “drop the awe factor” and get in the playbook if he wants to make a contribution to the team.

One day after Ochocinco caught one pass in the regular-season opener for the Patriots against the Dolphins in Miami –a game where quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots racked up 517 passing yards in a 38-24 win —Ochocinco tweeted: "Just waking up after a late arrival, I’ve never seen a machine operate like that n person, to see video game numbers put up n person was WOW."

That drew a stern rebuke from Bruschi. Speaking on WEEI’s “Big Show,” he hammered Ochocinco, telling him to “get with the program.”

“Drop the awe factor, OK, Ocho? Chad, drop the awe factor,” Bruschi said. “You’re not a fan, all right. You’re not someone who’s on another team or watching TV. You’re not an analyst. You’re a part of it. They want you to be a part of it. So get with the program because obviously you’re not getting it and you’re tweeting because you’re saying, ‘It’s amazing to see’? It’s amazing to see because you don’t understand it. You still don’t understand it and it’s amazing to you because you can’t get it. “Stop tweeting and get in your playbook,” Bruschi added.

“Wake up! If you’re just waking up now —I don’t know when this was, six minutes ago? —get out your bed and get to the stadium and watch some film if you still think it’s amazing. If you’re in it and you know what you’re doing and you execute out there you don’t think it’s amazing. You know why? Because it’s what you’re supposed to do.”

So Tedy Bruschi went on the air yesterday and blasted Chad Ochocinco for tweeting about Brady's career day. Ordinarily, I would side with Bruschi on this matter, however I can't get behind him on this one. I mean trying to connect Ocho tweeting to his lack of production? Just sounds like something that John Dennis would say.

Seriously, I don't understand why Bruschi would feel this way. So because he admired Brady's performance the other night, he doesn't get it? I'm pretty sure guys who "get it" can still be in awe of 517 yards through the air. Like if Wes Welker was "amazed" by Brady, does he not get it? Of course not. We all watched history unfold on Monday night, so what if Ochocinco wants to spend two whole seconds tweeting about it? It's not like he's conducting the Boston Pops or acting like a statue in Harvard Square.

All in all this is just a ridiculous conclusion to jump to by Bruschi. He is normally a legit commentator who brings experience and context to his analysis on ESPN which is full of jokers and clowns. However, his take on Ochocinco's tweeting is just a lazy opinion to have and it reeks of someone trying to stir up controversy. Could Ocho look more comfortable in the Patriots' offense? Sure, but given the shortened offseason, let's give him a chance to learn before we write him off as Joey Galloway 2.0.

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Chad Ochocinco & Bill Belichick's Man Crush Gets Taken To The Next Level

I'll leave the tired Christmas morning cliches for my friends in the print media but honestly, today was a pretty special day to be a fan of the New England Patriots.

When I woke up, they had acquired Albert Haynesworth. A move that I hadn't heard one whisper about, which is saying something with the proliferation of Twitter.

This afternoon, they made a much less surprising but I think better overall move as the Pats shipped two late-round picks (1 in 2012, 1 in 2013) to the Cincinnati Bengals for Chad Ochocinco.

I say this wasn't a surprise since Chad and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick have had an almost disturbing mutual affection for each other since the Pro Bowl a couple seasons ago. Before a preseason game two years ago, mics caught them verbally smooching each other and then they gave each other tongue baths before their teams met for real last season.

"It became a relationship beyond a football player and coach," Ochocinco said last September before the Bengals faced the Patriots. "He became a friend of mine.

"He's one that I look up to tremendously. One who I've never played for but who I share the same respect for as if he was my own head coach."

Belichick returned the compliment.

"It's an odd couple," Belichick said at the time, drawing some laughter from media members. "But in the end, I think we have a lot of things in common.

"I like Chad. I like him as a player, I like him as a person. I like his enthusiasm and the fun he has in football, and how he competes on the football field."

Ochocinco (please go back to Johnson) has never been my favorite player by any means since he has always been a cartoon character. When the Bengals were on Hard Knocks a few years ago, that sealed it. He tried way too hard to be funny and different. However, the main difference between him and Haynesworth is that Chad loves football when it gets down to it. He's very durable (16 games in 7 out of 10 years), he goes hard and most importantly, he makes big plays.

His talent went mostly wasted with a terrible franchise but he's going to have a huge impact immediately this season for Tom Brady and the Patriots already vaunted passing game. He adds the deep threat that they lacked after they kicked Randy Moss out of town last season after four games.

Chad signed a three-year deal with the Patriots; he was due to make $6.35 million for the Bengals this season but the Patriots want him to restructure that.

Bottom line is that this is a very low risk for New England. Ochocinco always dreamed of playing for a winning franchise and one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. At 33, he should still have something left in the tank. This is a six-time Pro Bowler who had seven 1000-yard seasons (the Pats didn't have any last year). He has over 10,000 career yards (10,783) and 66 touchdowns but he's never made a deep playoff run.

What better place to come than New England? Besides Belichick, he will line up with the best quarterback in the NFL and a team that has serious Super Bowl aspirations. I'd say pick him up for your fantasy team this season but Pats homers will be all over him way too early. Regardless, Chad Ochocinco is a nearly perfect fit for this team at this point in time.

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oh hello NFL regular season

It's probably because the 2010 Boston Red Sox have been out of the race for basically all season but I can never remember being more excited for an NFL season to start.

I have absolutely no idea what to expect from my New England Patriots but therein lies some of the excitement I guess.

Yesterday afternoon was about as good a start as you could ever dream of: New England beat a playoff team (Cincinnati Bengals) 38-24 at Gillette Stadium.

Where to begin the plethora of highlights? Tom Brady, the NFL's highest paid player, looked awesome spreading it around (25 of 35 for 258 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions).

Wes Welker played his first real game since the 2009 regular season finale, racking up eight catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns, looking nothing like a guy recovering from ACL surgery. Even Fred Taylor (71 yards rushing) and the ageless Kevin Faulk (70 total yards) had a spring in their old steps.

The Patriots had a defensive touchdown (a 59-yard interception return from Gary Guyton) and a 97-yard kickoff return by Brandon Tate. All this led to a 31-3 lead and a cruise control second half which led to the tighter final score.

With so many young guys and new names, particularly on defense, New England looked very promising. Pat Chung led the way with 16 tackles (12 solo), rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez had a 45-yard catch and rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski capped the scoring with a 1-yard back of the end zone grab.

Carson Palmer's numbers (34 of 50, 345 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception) look nice but he didn't do anything when it mattered and the outcome hung in the balance. Ditto for Chad Ochocinco (12 catches, 159 yards, 1 touchdown) and Terrell Owens (7 catches, 53) who are well on their way to a 8-8 season that nobody will ever remember.

Welker fittingly caught the first pass of the 2010 season and finished the first drive with an easy nine-yard catch and run for a score. Stephen Gostkowski's 31-yard field goal put the Pats up 10-0 after the first quarter.

Welker added a four-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter along with Guyton's awesome individual effort.

Mike Nugent hit a 54-yard field goal to get the Bengals on the board late in the second quarter.

After Tate's kickoff return, Cincy finally scored two touchdowns (a one-yard pass to Jermaine Gresham and 28-yard pass to Ochocinco).

Gronkowski's touchdown sealed this one before Cedric Benson wrapped it up with a one-yard run.

The Dolphins eeked one out on the road over the Bills yesterday afternoon and the Jets begin their season tonight with a game at the Baltimore Ravens.

New England travels to the New Meadowlands on Sunday (4:15 p.m.) for an early AFC East showdown.

Randy Moss had five catches for 59 yards but he made headlines for his bizarre 14-minute post-game press conference. I have already seen too much coverage of it so I don't feel like I have to talk about it like everybody else.