Episode 2 - The Sale is Final! (ft. Chad Ochocinco)
It's Friday, which means the sale - barring any last minute changes - is final. The Rock now owns the XFL with his partners. We discuss that AND Chad Ochocinco joins the Markcast to talk about the transaction and football in general during the pandemic!
Check out the full text transcript of our interview with Chad Ochocinco -
Paul Sanchez:
Chad Johnson! How's it going, sir?
Chad Ochocinco:
I am sitting here getting a little maintenance. I'm getting my feet and nails done right now. Look at my hands.
Interview:
Awesome.
Chad Ochocinco:
I'm getting a little pampering session before, before my plane takes off at seven. How you guys doing?
Paul Sanchez:
Where you flying?
Chad Ochocinco:
I'm going to Atlanta. Handle some business, take care of some business real quick.
Paul Sanchez:
Cool, cool. We're good. We're good.
Chad Ochocinco:
Yeah? That's dope man. That's dope.
Paul Sanchez:
So-
Chad Ochocinco:
How y'all holding up during this damn pandemic?
Paul Sanchez:
Oh, man. It's been kind of crazy. I've been working from home for the first few months, but I'm a photojournalist.
Chad Ochocinco:
Right.
Paul Sanchez:
I'm back out in the field now covering various news stories and ...
Chad Ochocinco:
Right.
Paul Sanchez:
How are you doing? How you holding up?
Chad Ochocinco:
I love it. I was quarantined before quarantine was a thing, so this transition has been pretty easy for me.
Paul Sanchez:
Well, Chad, I wanted to ask you ... What do you think about The Rock buying the XFL man?
Chad Ochocinco:
I mean, it's dope. It's dope. It's dope that someone of his status, for one, who has been consistent and a successful businessman, has put a stake in something that he once loved before he switched over to acting.
Chad Ochocinco:
I'm sure we'll probably come to fruition of it having a success rate, which it hasn't had of yet, for obvious reasons. But I think with him being a part of it and seeking the talent, and running things from his point of view, I think it's going to be successful.
Paul Sanchez:
Do you think that's attributed to the fact that Vince McMahon is not really someone who probably played football at a level The Rock did?
Chad Ochocinco:
I mean Vince McMahon is a businessman, a successful one at that. And most of the people that do own football teams at times and are owners, are they all ... Did they all play before? Not really. They're just great at businesses.
Chad Ochocinco:
Sometimes it takes more than just being a great business mind to make something succeed. And having a football background, maybe The Rock will be able to make the XFL something consistent that gives other players that don't have the opportunity to play at the highest level, give them a platform to shine.
Paul Sanchez:
With all the pandemic talk, are you concerned that we don't get an NFL season?
Chad Ochocinco:
Oh no. We're going to get an NFL season. There's too much money at stake. Now that's going to happen. That's going-
Paul Sanchez:
How would that make-
Chad Ochocinco:
That's going to ... It's like it's happening now. It's going to happen. Trust me, it is going to happen. And the players are going to have to abide by the guidelines, I'm sure. We don't know what's going on inside at these facilities.
Chad Ochocinco:
And once they go home, I'm sure coaches are asking them to minimize their contact with the public as much as they can, standing around family and friends. And I mean, I'm sure you can sacrifice that for a few months, if they get the football season popping.
Paul Sanchez:
I guess if ... Let's just play devil's advocate here. Let's just say that things go by the wayside, maybe we get a shortened season. Do you see any of these football players, maybe the lower round draft picks, possibly looking at the XFL? I know the Canadian Football League also shut down off operations for 2020. Maybe we'll see some of these lower draft picks.
Chad Ochocinco:
CFL shut down?
Paul Sanchez:
Yeah. For the entire 2020 season.
Reid Johnson:
2020, yeah.
Chad Ochocinco:
Oh, I didn't even know that.
Reid Johnson:
They released them all from their contracts too for the year.
Paul Sanchez:
Yeah. CFL is done for this year.
Reid Johnson:
Yeah. As of yesterday, I think.
Chad Ochocinco:
Okay. Yeah. Okay. I didn't even know that. You guys, you just broke that news to me. That's crazy. That's ... Okay. So, I mean, yes. It gives them an opportunity to play. It gives them an opportunity to play. But if the NFL would shut down, and the XFL would be able to play.
Chad Ochocinco:
I don't think that would happen, though. I mean, if an entity like the NFL shuts down with all the resources and knowledge and science they have at hand ... If they can't play, then XFL definitely not going to be able to play.
Paul Sanchez:
To that point though, I mean, do you think that ... Because we only have eight teams in the XFL, right?
Chad Ochocinco:
Right.
Paul Sanchez:
And eight teams would definitely bode well for a bubble situation that we're seeing in the NBA and the NHL.
Chad Ochocinco:
I mean, and NFL can do the same thing if they wanted to. If they wanted to and if need be, it can happen. But the fact that they didn't go that route, and even though it's short, we knew about this long before. Way back in March, we knew it was going to be a pandemic.
Chad Ochocinco:
If they want to do something, a bubble format for all 32 teams, it can happen. They can happen. They have the money, they have the resources. The revenue to do anything that's possible. And the fact that they haven't lets you know there's going to be a season, because there's too much money at stake.
Paul Sanchez:
Good point. Very good point. I know you tried out for the XFL last season.
Chad Ochocinco:
No. No, I didn't actually try XFL. I was just messing around, man.
Paul Sanchez:
You didn't? Oh, you were just messing around?
Chad Ochocinco:
Yeah, man. Too many people are looking for opportunities. And that's me coming in, and taking an opportunity from someone else that actually deserves it. I had my time.
Chad Ochocinco:
And the fact that I can kick 60 and 65, 70 yards, it was a cool thought. But I'm just like, you know what? No. I don't want to take the attention away from someone else that would actually deserve it and needs a job.
Reid Johnson:
Did you watch any of the games last year? If so, what did you-
Chad Ochocinco:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I watched a few. I watched a few.
Paul Sanchez:
Did you follow anybody specifically, team-wise?
Chad Ochocinco:
No, no.
Paul Sanchez:
No? You're just a fan of the whole-
Chad Ochocinco:
There's no Miami team. So I just watched. When it was on, I watched.
Reid Johnson:
Did you like the extra access that you guys had to the play calling and stuff? Did you think that that resonated?
Chad Ochocinco:
That was cool. I like it. They should do that in the NFL.
Paul Sanchez:
Well, I mean, to that point-
Chad Ochocinco:
They should do that in NFL. It was really dope. It was dope to see.
Paul Sanchez:
And to that point, the XFL 1.0, the original incarnation, introduced that SkyCam thing. And a lot of football team picked that up afterwards. So, that's one of the things you'd like to definitely see the NFL pick up on?
Chad Ochocinco:
Yeah. The SkyCam was cool. I didn't like it that much, but something that I would like for them to implement is a separate camera for wide receiver and DB match-ups.
Paul Sanchez:
Oh.
Chad Ochocinco:
Simply because all you see is the replay when the play is made. I want to be able to lock in on the receiver and the DB and watch everything from the beginning. How he got open, how he caught it, and not have to rely on the replay.
Chad Ochocinco:
Seeing it in real time. To me, it would be something dope. And giving the viewer at home an option to watch from a different perspective, except just the TV copy.
Reid Johnson:
So, you feel good? You feel good for the NFL? Do you feel good for the XFL launching in February like they're planning? Relaunching?
Chad Ochocinco:
I mean, by that time, I think the higher ups should have gotten a grasp on what we need to do, as far as the pandemic is concerned. So, as time goes on, I think it's going to rock. It's going to rock out.
Reid Johnson:
Will you be watching in February if they go ahead?
Chad Ochocinco:
Of course, of course. Any sports going on right now during these times, I'm watching.
Reid Johnson:
That's awesome. That's good to hear.
Paul Sanchez:
Good to hear.
Chad Ochocinco:
Yeah, man.
Paul Sanchez:
So, what you've basically said, or you alluded to, you don't want to take any opportunities away from anybody else. What if they call? What if someone calls?
Chad Ochocinco:
It'd still be the same thing. It'd be the same thing.
Paul Sanchez:
It's still ... You would still say no?
Chad Ochocinco:
Yeah, of course. Of course.
Paul Sanchez:
A tempting ... Besides ... Has there been anything else that has weighed into your decision to stay away from the game? Besides not taking away opportunities from people? Or you just-
Chad Ochocinco:
No, that's enough.
Paul Sanchez:
Wow.
Chad Ochocinco:
Yeah, that's enough. Taking food off someone else's plate that actually needs it more than I do is enough to sit my ass down.
Paul Sanchez:
I love it. I love the humility. I love it. I love all of it.
Chad Ochocinco:
Yeah.
Paul Sanchez:
Now what are your plans going forward for your post-NFL, post-football career then? What are you doing now?
Chad Ochocinco:
A little bit of everything. Stuff with NFL Films, stuff with HBO. Bleacher Report, ESPN, At Your Assist. It's continuously coming in, but I don't want to be in a position of where I'm in a structured environment just stuck. And having to be PC.
Chad Ochocinco:
I'm still allowed to be Chad, and be myself, and enjoy different ways and different avenues to obviously just make money. Nothing too controlling where I have to be like ... It's like being in the NFL again, in a controlled environment. Like, no, I'm having fun. Enjoying it. Plan free for smoking cigars, eating McDonald's-
Paul Sanchez:
Still eating McDonald's. Still eating at McDonald's.
Chad Ochocinco:
... Yeah. Nothing changed. Nothing changed.
Paul Sanchez:
I keep telling people that. I'm like, "You know how many calories are in a McDonald's cheeseburger?" Chad Johnson talks about it a lot.
Chad Ochocinco:
Yeah.
Paul Sanchez:
How it's one of the lowest calorie foods you could actually eat. Surprisingly. How did you discover that? I need to know how you discovered this.
Chad Ochocinco:
I didn't discover it. It discovered me. As a kid, man. You grow up, man, there's some things that just never change. And that was one of them that it never did. Just never did.
Paul Sanchez:
Awesome. Awesome. All right, Chad. Well, it's been about 10 minutes. We appreciate your time. We're going to let you go. Let you continue with your pampering.
Chad Ochocinco:
Yeah, no. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you, guys.
Paul Sanchez:
All right. Take care, now.
Chad Ochocinco:
Hey, you guys be safe too, man.
Paul Sanchez:
You too.
Chad Ochocinco:
You guys be safe out there. I love you guys.
Paul Sanchez:
All right, take it easy Chad.
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