Cincinnati Bengals legend Chad Ochocinco has always wanted to invest in soccer, but one aspect of his NFL career kept him from doing so. NFL fans still remember many of Ochocino’s celebrations, like pretending to perform CPR on the ball and doing a river dance. Those celebrations made Ochocinco one of the most entertaining personalities in the league over his 12-year NFL career. But those also came at a hefty price tag that held him back from investing in soccer. 

“I probably got fined over $5 million throughout my career,” Chad Ochocinco said during the latest episode of The Late Run podcast. “Oh, easy. Gotta think, 12 years I did something every game for a decade straight and refused to stop. I should own a part of Inter Miami. No?”

Off the field, Chad Ochocinco actually lived a very frugal lifestyle. After the Bengals drafted him in 2001, he even stayed inside the team facility for two years to avoid paying rent. But on the field, Ochocinco treated money like confetti to express his personality and entertain fans.

During the Bengals’ 2007 season opener game against the Baltimore Ravens, Chad Ochocinco donned a mock Golden Hall of Fame jacket. The NFL fined Ochocinco $40,000 for violating the league’s uniform policy with that stunt. In 2009, he was once again fined for a stunt during another game against the Ravens.

While waiting for a replay review on one of his catches in that game, Ochocinco tried to bribe a referee with a one-dollar note. He meant it as a joke, but the NFL fined him $20,000 by labeling the act “unprofessional and unbecoming.”

That same season, in the Bengals’ 23–13 win over the Detroit Lions, Chad Ochocinco pulled another premeditated stunt. After scoring a 36-yard touchdown in that game, Ochocinco donned a poncho and sombrero on the sidelines. Ochocinco intended for it to honor the Spanish Heritage Month, but the NFL fined him $30,000 for the stunt.

Now, the Bengals legend just revealed that these fines totaled more than $5 million by the end of his NFL career. Even so, Chad Ochocinco avoided the financial pitfalls that have affected many retired NFL players by investing his money wisely. But looking back now, he couldn’t help but wonder if that $5 million had gone towards furthering his interest in soccer.  

Chad Ochocinco believes that if he had cared more about getting fines, the money he lost could’ve instead made him an owner of a team in Major League Soccer. Ochocinco even joked that he could have become an owner of Inter Miami, an MLS franchise with a current estimated valuation of around $1.45 billion.

Why is Chad Ochocinco more invested in soccer than football?

In The Late Run podcast, Chad Ochocinco suggested that if MLS Commissioner Don Garber had approached him earlier about owning an MLS team, he would have jumped at the opportunity. At the same time, Ochocinco also revealed that his interest in soccer ownership far outweighs his interest in owning an NFL team. 

“I’m still connected to the game [football] in a sense, but I don’t love it enough to have to own it,” Chad Ochocinco said. “I loved it enough when I had to play, and it’s a way to pay bills. Now, owning an MLS team, that’s different. If I talked to Don back then and he gave me the opportunity to do so, I would’ve been like ‘Take all my money.’ I would have stopped getting fined. Then, use that fine money towards making that investment instead.”

While Chad Ochocinco grew up in Miami’s Liberty City in the 1980s, soccer wasn’t particularly accessible in his community at that time. Still, at four years old, Ochocinco developed an interest in soccer, and he kept playing as a striker throughout his childhood. But without many opportunities to pursue soccer seriously in Miami Beach Senior High School, Ochocinco switched to playing football. 

It was a decision that helped Chad Ochocinco pay his bills for more than a decade, but his interest in pursuing soccer never went away. So, in 2011, Ochocinco accepted an invitation for a four-day tryout from an MLS team named Sporting Kansas City. At that time, Ochocinco called the experience “a dream” because it gave him a chance to compete at an elite level in soccer, which he had always wanted to do.

However, Ochocinco failed to secure a contract with any MLS team even after retiring from the NFL in 2012. Ochocinco still made his competitive debut in soccer by joining the Boca Raton FC for the National Premier Soccer League in 2018. Then, in 2022, Ochocinco also took up the role of soccer analyst for FOX Sports during the FIFA World Cup.

In February this year, Chad Ochocinco also launched The Late Run, a podcast focused entirely on soccer. Therefore, Ochocinco is still connected to football as it made him famous, but he keeps finding new ways to enjoy the sport that first captured his heart.