Steady diet of champ for chad

Dec 21, 2006 05:12:49

Nothing is going to cramp Chad Johnson’s style on the eve of the challenge he’s looked forward to all season as he prepares to meet Broncos Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey. Not even his cramps. Johnson told the Denver media Wednesday in a conference call that he has been studying Bailey intently on tape. “Every pass picked off, knocked down, every pass caught against him since Week 1,” Johnson said. “I’m studying him to a 'T' and trying to find a way to get it done.” The Bengals have also been doing that with the so-called “Chad Problem.” After Johnson missed a chunk of the third quarter Monday night with yet another IV session, ESPN interjected some criticism of his diet. But head coach Marvin Lewis defended how the NFL’s leading receiver takes care of himself, saying his ongoing affair with McDonald’s is overblown and that a nutritionist has actually given him a checklist of things to eat. “Something he could relate to,” said Lewis, referring to the cornerback checklist. “He eats the right things.” Michele Macedonio, the Cincinnati nutritionist the club has brought in to work with players and is credited with helping transform running back Rudi Johnson from bowling ball to bowling pin, copied the Chad-ian checklist. Like Johnson, she laminated it with a heading. Only this one reads, “The Challenge. Can 85 Beat The Cramps?” Like Johnson, she put “Yes” and “No” columns, but replaced the names of cornerbacks with days of the week and a menu for each day. Whether he’s following it is anyone’s guess because when he’s asked about why he’s had to leave so many games because of IVs, he says he won’t talk about it. But it appears to be a byproduct of simply the way he’s made and how he drives himself. Lewis partly joked Wednesday, “He’s just a guy that needs to hydrate. It’s part of him. It’s from talking too much. He hyperventilates himself, he dries out, and he needs an IV.” Chip Morton, the club’s strength and conditioning coach, says Johnson is a high-energy guy who is constantly working on the field and in the weight room and naturally loses a lot of fluid. “The guy’s good with us in here and he’s always working,” Morton said. “He’s always doing something.” As if on cue, Johnson lunched on chicken and rice Wednesday at his locker. “The McDonald’s thing is a thing just to get you guys to think about it,” Lewis said. “He goes to McDonald’s to get hotcakes. He likes pancakes. He goes and gets McDonald’s breakfast. Instead of getting pancakes here, he gets pancakes on his way here. It’s not a big deal.” Lewis said Johnson has been tested and the results simply say he has to hydrate. Although Johnson has never hid his fondness for Big Macs, Lewis insists that he eats mostly the pancakes. Johnson delivered a wide receiver’s equivalent of a pancake on Bailey the last time the duo met two years ago on Monday Night, when 149 of his yards came on two 50-yard catches against Bailey in one-on-one jousts. “Take away one touchdown, the first one, because he fell. So knock out 50 yards,” Johnson told the Denver reporters. “I don’t want to say luck, but I got open on (the second) one. The rest was mediocre routes that I was able to make some plays.” In keeping up his strategy of the last six weeks or so, Johnson pumped up his next foe in Michael Jordan fashion. Although, to be fair, every time Johnson mentions the NFL’s top cornerbacks he always mentions Bailey first. “Big, big, much respect to Champ. He’s the best man to ever wear a uniform, period,” Johnson said. “Besides Deion (Sanders). It goes without saying, it’s going to be an exciting week for me, an exciting week for him. It kind of puts me in perspective, where my game is as one of the elite receivers in the game. His game already speaks for itself. I’m really looking forward to it. He doesn’t need anything extra. He’s already the best in the game. What more do you need? “He’s consistent year in and year out. Name another defensive back in the NFL who is consistent year in and year out. Please. Year in and year out. Not two years in the league. Year in and year out.” With the Bengals flying into Denver a day early on Friday night so Lewis can get his team acclimated to a new stadium - INVESCO Field - not to mention the altitude and two-hour time difference, Johnson says he’s going to make sure he and Bailey meet for dinner. They actually met through Sanders when both were at his WR-DB camp in Dallas. “(Bailey) being the best there, that’s what really caught my attention,” Johnson said. “That’s when I understood what all the talk was about, about how he is the greatest.” Johnson has the three greatest receiving seasons in Bengals history. In order to have the greatest this year and break last year’s club record of 1,432 yards, he needs that 149 he put up on Bailey, but over the last two games