Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, who has toyed with the Spanish spelling of his jersey number on and off the field, legally changed his name to "Ocho Cinco," but will have to wait a while before he can sport his new identity on the back of his uniform. According to the Associated Press, the NFL decided against allowing him to wear the name during games.
"While the NFL has recognized the legal name change of Chad Johnson to Chad Ocho Cinco, the league informed the Bengals today that certain issues remain to be resolved before Ocho Cinco will be permitted to wear his new surname on his jersey," the league said in a statement Sunday morning.
"He will wear the name Johnson on his jersey today and will be referred to as Chad Johnson on the official play-by-play sheet," the statment continued. "Further questions should be directed to the league office."
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the AP, "He has a financial obligation to Reebok, which produces the jerseys available to fans. That has to be resolved before the on-field jersey can be changed. The same obligation exists for any player that changes his number or name."
Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters that Chad's name change on the jersey would likely occur soon.
"He's legally changed his name, so we're willing to recognzie that," Goodell said. "There's what I call a more administrative issue that has to dealt with. There's a large inventory of jerseys that are out there with 85 Johnson. any player that changes a number or changes his name has to address that so that our licensing is not stuck with a large inventory. That's just something we're dealing with. As far as we're concerned, if he changes his name legally, that's fine with us."
Meanwhile, when asked about the delay after his team's17-10 loss to Baltimore. Ocho Cinco responded, saying, "I ain't worried about the name, man. We just lost the game," he said. "I ain't worried about that."
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