“You Coaching for Them Streets”: Deion Sanders Calls Out Chad Johnson for Shooting His Shot With the Cincinnati Bengals

Chad Johnson is having a resurgence as an NFL pundit following his (possibly?) Hall of Fame career as an NFL wideout. However, it seems that his roles as a panelist on The CW’s Inside the NFL and as co-host of the Nightcap podcast alongside Shannon Sharpe haven’t been scratching Ochocinco’s competitive itch. He has once again been advocating for himself to get some sort of coaching or front-office job in college or the pros. Coach Prime stepped in once again to humble his old buddy.

Johnson played 11 years in the NFL. 10 of those came with the Cincinnati Bengals, for whom he was a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro. So, of course, they would be his first call when testing the waters for serious coaching roles. Especially considering Cincy just missed the playoffs for the second straight year. Ocho didn’t quite “call” the Bengals per se, instead putting his goals online and out into the world, hoping for a bite.

“I want to coach for the Bengals or be an intern.”

And he caught some chum—just not the kind he was hoping for. Instead of the Bengals coming with an answer to his plea, it was his old buddy Deion Sanders. And, true to form, Coach Prime didn’t miss the chance to deliver some classic tough love.

“See I was gonna hire u but u coaching for them streets!”

Ochocinco, however, was unfazed by Deion’s jokes and kept pushing for his shot on the Colorado staff. Instead of firing back, he pointed out that the college job would look great on his resume and offered to be ready to go to Boulder posthaste.

Some might read that and think Sanders is insulting Johnson, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The pair have joked about Johnson’s potential as a coach before, and Coach Prime always likes to have a little fun with the former wideout.

Last December, while Sanders was a guest on Nightcap, Johnson attempted to sell himself to Neon Deion for a coaching role with the Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes, perhaps as the WRs coach. Sanders complimented Johnson, but told him he couldn’t get a proper “coaching” coaching job just yet.

“I’m not going to give you a ‘coaching’ coaching job, I’ll give you a coaching job, not a ‘coaching’ coaching job. Because I know you ain’t gonna do right… You’re gonna be a heck of a coach. Now, I trust your skills and your knowledge, and what you’re going to spit to the kids, I trust that.”

The two jokingly haggled over a theoretical salary, with Sanders teasing that Johnson would only get the “mo” but not the full “money”. After a few laughs, they decided to step away from the conversation for a minute or two. When they returned, Sharpe asked if he could get a job in Colorado, and Sanders responded with a firm “no,” joking that he’s “selfish”, as the trio laughed hysterically.

Johnson then pitched himself as a recruiter, saying he could “sell water to a whale, bwoy!” Sanders seemed more amenable to that option, rather than having Chad Johnson on his staff as a coach. Especially if Ochocinco was going to push for “mo” money than his coaching peers.