Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco has publicly spoken about his interest to be traded to other teams in the past; most notably the New England Patriots because of his respect for Bill Belichick. One team that could be interested in Chad, if the Bengals decide to release the wide receiver who is scheduled to make $6 million in 2011, is the Atlanta Falcons.
Why the Falcons, who have Roddy White and receiver prospect Julio Jones you ask?
Why it's the Bob Bratkowski connection, of course.
“Coach Bratkowski is the reason why I’m with the Bengals,” Ochocinco said after riding a bull at the Gwinnett Arena on Saturday. “He was my coach at the Senior Bowl when I was coming out. He went to bat for me. They weren’t going to take me. But from what he saw at the Senior Bowl before the draft is the reason why he stood on the table for me and that’s why they drafted me.”
Bratkowski was the Bengals offensive coordinator from 2001-2010, putting together three straight seasons of a top-ten offense from 2005-2007. However, the last three seasons the offense failed to rank inside the top-20 (they were 20th in 2010).
After head coach Marvin Lewis was granted more powers to stick around after his contract expired earlier this offseason, Bratkowski was fired and replaced by Jay Gruden, who's only experience in the NFL was as an assistant coach to his older brother Jon at Tampa Bay.
Bratkowski found a home in Atlanta as the Falcon's quarterbacks coach.
On Tuesday, NFL Network's Jason La Canfora added the list of possibilities to the Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, Washington Redskins and the Chicago Bears.