Pronunciation mistakes happen, but hearing an incredibly wrong version of “Ochocinco” is pretty remarkable. Former NFL receiver Chad Johnson legally changed his name to “Chad Ochocinco” in 2008, and has continued to use “Ochocinco” in some areas even after legally changing his name back in 2012. And he has been referenced in an incredible amount of arenas, from football to gaming to pop culture to soccer and even politics, with the latter discussion coming in particular around his 2019 live-tweeting of Donald Trump advisor Roger Stone Jr. getting arrested by the FBI.
But, Glenn Greenwald (formerly known for work with The Guardian and for cofounding The Intercept, currently writing on Substack and hosting a show on Rumble) apparently doesn’t know how to say “Ochocinco.” He brought that Stone arrest up in a video Sunday, and called Johnson “Chad ‘Okinacha’ Johnson.” Here’s that isolated clip, taken from Greenwald’s System Update show on Rumble (the wider context, Greenwald discussing “the media’s creepy love affair with Trump prosecutor Jack Smith,” can be seen in the quoted tweet):
https://twitter.com/Wilson__Valdez/status/1687916804054700033
“And then, this January [2019], just a few weeks before Chad ‘Okinacha’ Johnson would watch the FBI arrest Roger Stone…”
Of course, Greenwald is not particularly known for sports commentary. But “Okinacha” is a bizarre pronunciation by any standards, and not even close to phonetic. Mispronunciations happen, and are often not great, but at least this is more in the category of funny than the category of offensive.
But this is the latest odd thing for Johnson, who has played professional football in every country on the North American continent, had a reality show on VH1 and a sports talk show with Terrell Owens on Versus, appeared on Dancing with the Stars, guest-hosted WWE Raw, played professional soccer, appeared on the Professional Bull Riders circuit, fought Brian Maxwell in a boxing match on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul, become a gaming personality, and co-hosted Fox’s FIFA World Cup Tonight in Qatar. Despite all that, Glenn Greenwald still doesn’t know how to say his name.
[@Wilson__Valdez on Twitter]
