Ochocinco, Motorola Prevent Bengals' Blackout

NFL News - October 17th, 2009 - Written by John

Say what you want about Chad Ochocinco (or is it Esteban Ochocinco?). The guy knows how to pander. More than just the flashy touchdowns and the sideline antics, Ochocinco has recently shown a charitable side that is going a long way to endear himself to the fans he likely lost during the temper tantrum he threw last off-season.

First it was buying four Cincinnati Bengals fans tickets to their Week Two against Green Bay. Front row seats, actually, that he admittedly used for selfish reasons. He paid for the fans' travel to the game on the condition that they would embrace him when he did the Lambeau Leap after scoring a touchdown. Then this week, he bought 40 seats to a local movie theatre for residents to see the premier of "Law Abiding Citizen" free of charge.

But his move Friday afternoon probably takes the cake. On his Twitter account, Ochocinco announced that he, Motorola, and a local CBS affiliate teamed together to buy the remaining 1,200-plus tickets to this week's game against the Houston Texans.

"Attention: On behalf of Motorola and Esteban Ocho Cinco we've purchased the remaining tickets for Sundays game= no blackout," his Twitter feed read.

After that he wrote, "if you're in the tri-state area stay tuned on how to get tickets to Sundays game if you don't have them. Again there will be no blackout this Sunday, special thanks to Motorola and The Interesting One."

CincyJungle.com first broke the story, saying that the tickets will be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Paul Brown Stadium North box office. They will be given out in pairs, meaning 600 fans who normally wouldn't be able to afford the pricey seats will be able to go. It allows the team to continue it's now-47-game sellout streak, and avoids a potentially embarrassing P.R. blunder for a team that is one of the hottest in the league at 4-1. Although the franchise hasn't gone out of it's way to shake it's previous thug image, there's no doubt it would like to be considered an elite franchise -- and elite franchises don't black out.

There's no doubt Ochocinco has become a necessary member of the organization as they attempt to market themselves in a better light after a slew of suspensions in the middle of the decade. Winning helps. But this helps increase fan loyalty to the team, and is a great way for Ochocinco to bring more value to the table when he attempts to get a contract extension he has been waiting for.

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