FOXBORO - Back in July, Chad Ochocinco ended his first press conference with the Patriots media by asking for a group hug. He promised he'd be engaging, entertaining. He'd whisper to each media member individually that, if we just give him some time to get the offense down, he'd "give you guys the best (stuff) you ever had."Sounded great. Unfortunately, football -- the reason most of the media was there in the first place -- got in the way. Almost immediately, it was obvious Ocho was having trouble doing something really important. Catching the football.
He slogged along through camp -- even catching a touchdown pass in the Patriots first preseason game. Hekept mostly quiet except to say he was dangerously close to breaking out. When he figured it out, he'd share his thoughts. When the regular season started and it was apparent he was an afterthought in the Patriots offense, Ochocinco began retreating further. He declined interview after interview. Then, in the third game of the season, Ocho dropped a certain fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Tom Brady. After the game, he declined to speak to the media as a whole but did speak individually to a few reporters. And that has basically been it. He decided the football media in New England was against him and went to radio silence. Given he was on his way to a 15-catch season, he was left to his own devices because -- really -- what else could one ask him except why he was such a disappointment for 6 million. But now, after being inactive for the AFC Championship game, Ochocinco is again holding court. Selectively. He spoke Thursday to the Associated Press, a Canadian TV station, and had pancakes with a NECN reporter. He was charming. Of course, the interviews were on his terms. With his football relevance now nil, it clears the way for the Chad Ochocinco Brand to be advanced. Football, it seems, has merely been a conduit for him to become a celebrity. That's his vocation. "This is the whole point of Twitter, which is good for me," Ocho told the AP. "The mainstream media, they had control of my image, telling people what I'm about. Twitter allows me to take back that control. It cuts out the middleman and lets me show who I really am."Having observed the guy for this season up close and followed his career, it's not hard to figure out who he really is. Intelligent. Funny. Conniving. Introspective. Isolationist. Needy. Generous. It's ironic, that football allowed Chad Johnson to turn himself from a player into Chad Ochocinco, entertainment entity. He's worked extremely hard at creating his brand. But in order to get to the most precious pulpit in sport -- a seat on a stage at the Super Bowl -- he had to shut up and go underground lest his overpaid, irrelevant behind get cut. But he's played it shrewdly. And now, the man who's played one snap in the playoffs, can don his sunglasses and hold court as a member of the New England Patriots, AFC Champions.