It’s a gimmick. It has to be.
That was the first reaction most had to the news that NFL star Chad Ochocinco would be trying out for MLS side Sporting Kansas City. With a labor battle putting his day job on hold, here was Ochocinco, master of the media circus, delving into a new hobby.
That seemed like the most logical explanation for why Ochocinco, he of the Dancing With the Stars appearance, reality show and engagement to a fellow reality show star, would try to be a pro at a sport he hadn’t played on any organized level in nearly two decades.
He knows self-promotion as well as he knows out patterns and touchdown celebrations, so there was plenty of skepticism when quotes emerged of Ochocinco claiming professional soccer was a life-long dream.
This Wednesday morning, Ochocinco will have the chance to show us all that he’s serious when he takes the field and trained alongside professional soccer players who aren’t about to let him treat their profession like a joke.
Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes had his questions too when he was first approached with the idea of having Ochocinco come in for a trial. He wouldn’t sign off without speaking with the Cincinnati Bengals receiver and hearing for himself that the 33-year old was serious and not just looking for his next publicity vehicle.
"Through that conversation he portrayed to me that he is very serious about this, and really wants to take a shot at it," Vermes said. "I think it’s a long shot for the guy. I don’t have any flights of grandeur here that he’s going to come up and tear it up or anything."
"It’s going to be interesting to see how his physical tools, and having played the game, help him."
"We had talked about positions, and one of the things he feels he can do is play up front," Vermes said. "The question is not going to be whether he can get behind the defense. It’s going to be whether or not once he gets there can he actually finish the ball? Can he make the final pass?"
"That’s going to be the big question and we’re going to find that out pretty quickly."
Ochocinco will have his chance to show he’s serious by actually going through with the four-day trial, which will consist of training with the team as it leads up to its next MLS match. Athletes from other sports training with MLS teams isn’t a new phenomenon. Steve Nash spent a day training with the New York Red Bulls and impressed the team with his skills.
Ochocinco wants more than that, at least that’s what we’re being told. He’s determined to make the team and believes he has the skills to do it. You can admire his confidence, but he seems destined to discover that the sport he played as a child is a far cry from the sport played by the pros in MLS.
There has been the expected backlash from some soccer purists who see the trial as a sideshow that threatens the integrity of the league. There’s definitely something to be said for the possibility that this trial could go from a smart publicity boost to an overplayed and overhyped joke, particularly if the team were to try and sign Ochocinco for any reason other than him being good enough.
It’s tough to imagine a pro team wasting a roster spot on a gimmick, and Vermes is a no-nonsense coach who spent two decades as a no-nonsense player, but Sporting Kansas City is also the team that signed Indian striker Sunil Chetri a year ago and trumpeted him as an Indian star, in an attempt to make some inroads into a new international market, only for Chehtri to be cut before ever making an MLS appearance.
On some level, you can’t blame Sporting Kansas City for looking for a publicity boost. With a new stadium opening in the summer, and a new brand to push in a region where the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams could soon have fans with lots of free time on their hands, Sporting KC could score, and has already begun to experience, a boost in visibility thanks to Ochocinco.
"I knew there would be some media attention, but I didn’t think it would be as much as it’s been," Vermes said. "That wasn’t the sole purpose of this thing. I want that to be clear. I was giving a guy an opportunity to come and show whether he could help us in any way."
"I think it’ll say something about our sport if he can’t make it," Vermes said. "If that’s the way it goes, and I’m not predicting anything, I’m keeping an open mind, but if it didn’t go his way then sure, people will look at our sport and realize it’s not easy to play."
As long as MLS and Sporting Kansas City manage the inevitable circus, and don’t do anything foolish like sign him to a contract he doesn’t deserve, then Ochocinco’s training stint could give the team the publicity boost its looking for while letting Ochocinco chase a dream that he’s unlikely to realize.
As much as it would make for even more interesting story lines if he made the team and became a goal-scoring sensation while the NFL lockout dragged on, Ochocinco will learn what so many soccer people know. That parks across the country are filled with great athletes who simply weren’t skilled enough to play professional soccer.
He’ll earn some credit if he goes through with the entire training stint, but Ochocinco actually making it in MLS? To put it in Ochocinco’s own words, "Child, Please."
Ives Galarcep is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering Major League Soccer and the U.S. national team.
