Did you know that Cincinnati Bengals rookie WR Jermaine Burton has Chad Johnson’s autographed jersey in his locker room? Time for some slight change in the fan-legend story. This time it’s the Hall of Famer WR who is crushing over a player. And guess what makes it more interesting? The player is in his teens and does not have an NFL tag yet. That’s none other than Ryan Williams.

Johnson seems to have got a thing for collecting jerseys from up-and-coming college football stars, and Williams is definitely on his radar. After Williams’ impressive performance in that big game, Johnson knew he had to add his signed jersey to his collection. Well, it’s like a badge of honor for him to have it from all the hottest young talents in the game.

Chad Johnson’s Jersey quest

Time for the CFB players to buckle up! After all, they finally got the chance to impress their favorite Ochocinco. But Johnson seems to have been already wooed by Alabama’s young talent Williams along with the Buffs dual-threat Travis Hunter and Michigan State WR Jeremiah Smith. On September 28, on the Nightcap Show, the ex-Miami Dolphins star covered his face with a black mask and wore shades, pulling off an abductor look and asking for a ransom. But only in Johnson’s case, it is signed jerseys and not money. “I got three people..Ryan Williams, Jeremiah Smith and Travis Hunter..I want a jersey signed in less than 24 hours,” said the Hall of Famer.

His desperation has been so real that he didn’t even inch a bit to add a little ultimatum to his demand, “If I don’t have my jerseys before 8 o’clock Monday, ain’t nobody going to get NIL money.” Forget catching feelings, Johnson is just catching that jersey. It’s all the same thing given Williams’ Heisman craze.  

Ryan Williams’ impressive stats spark Heisman talk

The 17-year-old might be a freshman wide receiver. But it did not stop Williams from making a spectacular catch that came with a 54-yard play. On Saturday’s match-up between Alabama and Georgia, the two-time Alabama “Mr. Football” led all receivers with five catches for 102 yards in the third quarter. Just like in Johnson’s list of dream jerseys, Williams found a place with the top shots. His numbers are to oomph up his stocks in the Heisman race landing in the big fish pond. 

Right after Saturday’s game, a senior writer for The Athletic came up with his analysis. Chris Vannini wrote, “We’ve got a pretty awesome Heisman race shaping up coming out of September. Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty, Jalen Milroe, Cam Ward, Ryan Williams, etc.”

The young talent had already been lucky enough to gain traction for the NFL from the Alabama insider Clint Lamb who dropped a bold claim, “I honestly think he could play in the NFL right now.” Till now Ryan Williams was going with 1,140 yards and 16 touchdowns in just 12 regular season games. Now his athletic catch gets added on, propelling him to land big in the Heisman race.