Chad Johnson

Arguably one of the more talented professional football players of the early 21st century, Chad Johnson was without a doubt one of the most flamboyant personalities to emerge from the NFL in recent years. After earning high marks in college with Oregon State University, Johnson went on to distinguish himself as a wide receiver with the perennially underperforming Cincinnati Bengals for several seasons in the mid-2000s. Controversy surrounding his rocky relationship with the Bengals management and the perception that he was not a team player somewhat tainted the public image of the attention-grabbing Johnson, who would briefly change his name to "Ochocinco" in 2008. Looking to parlay his oversized persona into the entertainment industry, Johnson was seen as a contestant on the 10th season of "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC, 2005- ) and as the star of his own reality dating show "Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch" (VH1, 2010). Johnson's meteoric rise to the top began a quick fall from grace when, after spending a season with the top-ranked New England Patriots and appearing in the comedy feature "American Reunion" (2012), he was arrested for assaulting his wife of one month, reality TV star Evelyn Lozada. In short order Johnson found himself let go from the Miami Dolphins - with whom he had just signed - out of lucrative endorsement deals and divorced by Lozada. What lay ahead for the mercurial Johnson, both personally and professionally, was a question that could only be answered by time.