professional football

Chad Ochocinco. Has a certain ring to it. Considerably more catchy than Chad (ho-hum) Johnson, don't you think?

There are innumerable Johnsons in the world, but only one Ochocinco. It's a name that's hard to forget.

Quarterback Brett Favre landing with the Minnesota Vikings this week was fodder for David Letterman's most recent Top 10 list.

The host of CBS-TV's "Late Show" had sport with Favre with his list Wednesday night and seemed to display some good local knowledge with a couple of the reasons (see Nos. 6 and 2).

Jim Bougie is the bar manager at Gabe's Roadhouse, the St. Paul, Minn. eatery and saloon that gets taken over by a Packers horde whenever the NFL lads from Green Bay are in competition.

"We had 150 of them in here on Saturday night," Bougie said. "(Quarterback Aaron) Rodgers looked good. They all left happy."

Now, Brett Favre's flip-flopping could taint him forever. His retirement indecision crossed into a new realm Tuesday, when he re-entered the Minnesota Vikings' world after insisting three weeks ago that his flirtation had ended and his retirement finally had stuck.

Keenan Lewis is unlike most Pittsburgh Steelers rookies. He does not think it's hot at Saint Vincent College, even though the heat index on the field Sunday was 98, and he is not shy about stating what he thinks is a realistic goal this season.

Finally, there is something Lane Kiffin and Tom Cable have in common -- a desire to pound Oakland Raiders assistant coach Randy Hanson into a gray paste.

Only Kiffin suspended Hanson for five days a year ago, helping hasten his falling-out with The Al (as in Davis), and Cable actually did it by physical force 13 days ago, according to multiple reports.

Brett Favre, it seems, will be a Minnesota Viking after all.

A Hattiesburg, Miss. television station reported that Favre boarded a plane Tuesday morning at the Hattiesburg Laurel Regional Airport. The plane was headed for St. Paul, Minn. Sources said Favre boarded by himself and commented, "We may know something by dinner."

On the surface, Michael Vick's signing with the Philadelphia Eagles seems shocking. An inch below the surface, it makes perfect sense. They might have been the ideal team all along.

The shiny white ball was placed nicely on the tee, and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith could have wound up and given it an angry and well-earned whack.

What, Smith was asked, are his thoughts on facing former coach Mike Nolan in Friday's exhibition season opener?

He set several conference records as a freshman.

He became an All-American wide receiver that turned cornerbacks into minced meat.

After proving his dominance at the collegiate level, he was destined for a long and luxurious pro career.

Then Southern Cal's Mike Williams did something foolish, and he never recovered from it.