{"id":253976,"date":"2025-11-08T13:41:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T18:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=253976"},"modified":"2025-11-08T13:41:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T18:41:39","slug":"chad-johnson-sends-plea-to-bears-rome-odunze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/11\/08\/chad-johnson-sends-plea-to-bears-rome-odunze\/","title":{"rendered":"Former All-Pro Wideout Sends a Plea to Bears&#8217; WR Rome Odunze"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/bengals\/\" target=\"_self\">Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> two-time All-Pro wide receiver and six-time Pro Bowler Chad &#8220;Ochocinco&#8221; Johnson has turned his attention to one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/bears\/\" target=\"_self\">Chicago Bears&#8217;<\/a> brightest young stars. After Chicago&#8217;s thrilling 47-45 win over Johnson&#8217;s former team, the outspoken NFL legend took to X to send a message directly to second-year wideout Rome Odunze. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ochocinco\/status\/1987031428580974936\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Johnson wrote:<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I need to work with Rome Odunze this offseason, young boul gone be special I just need 3 weeks&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Chad Johnson Sends Plea to Work With Bears&#8217; WR Rome Odunze: &#8220;I Just Need Three Weeks&#8221;<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_253986\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-253986\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-253986\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/11\/Chad-Johnson-1024x726.jpg\" alt=\"Chad Johnson\" width=\"640\" height=\"454\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/11\/Chad-Johnson-1024x726.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/11\/Chad-Johnson-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/11\/Chad-Johnson-768x544.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/11\/Chad-Johnson-1536x1089.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/11\/Chad-Johnson-2048x1452.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-253986\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oct 5, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson walks on the field prior to a game against the Detroit Lions at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The plea instantly caught the attention of many NFL fans, uniting two generations of wide receiver stars. Johnson, who dominated for years in Cincinnati with his elite route-running and flair for dramatics, has been known for mentoring young pass catchers in recent years. His public call with Odunze not only shows how highly he regards the Bears&#8217; young WR but also underscores the growing buzz around Chicago&#8217;s promising young offense.<\/p>\n<h3>Odunze&#8217;s Composure Shines Amid Father&#8217;s Comments and Growing Expectations<\/h3>\n<p>Johnson&#8217;s interest in Odunze comes at a time when the former first-round pick is already navigating the challenges of life in the NFL spotlight. The 22-year-old wideout recently faced questions about his father&#8217;s social media activity following Odunze&#8217;s zero-catch performance against the Bengals.<\/p>\n<p>It started when one <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/rickmarti12\/status\/1979986763557875980\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bears fan tweeted out<\/a>, &#8220;Can the bears trade Rome Odunze to a team that will actually throw to him,&#8221; and Odunze&#8217;s dad, James Odunze, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JamesOdunze\/status\/1985467814648692833\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">quoted the tweet<\/a> with a pin emoji.<\/p>\n<p>To no one&#8217;s surprise, this became a huge topic of conversation, as Rome currently leads the team in targets. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/46876212\/rome-odunze-says-dad-shots-bears-speak-me\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rome handled the situation<\/a> with remarkable poise.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t make a big deal out of it,&#8221; Odunze told reporters. &#8220;Obviously, he has his opinions, and I have mine. And he feels like he needs to voice those things on social media. That&#8217;s his prerogative. But he speaks for himself. I speak for myself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That maturity, combined with his flashes of excellence on the field, shows why veterans like Johnson see so much potential in the young receiver.<\/p>\n<p>Even in a game where the stat sheet didn&#8217;t show it, Odunze found other ways to contribute. The Bears&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChicagoBears\/status\/1985874708328260003\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">social media team highlighted<\/a> his impact as a blocker, releasing a two-minute clip showcasing his physicality and willingness to do the dirty work.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Selfless. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nmwwNMJuqY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/nmwwNMJuqY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChicagoBears\/status\/1985874708328260003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Odunze appreciated the recognition, calling it &#8220;an underappreciated aspect of wide receiver play&#8221; that he&#8217;s worked to excel at since entering the league.<\/p>\n<p>With his combination of work ethic, humility, and leadership, Odunze has quickly become a fan favorite in Chicago. What his dad says on social media shouldn&#8217;t take away from the fact that Rome is his own person, and one the Bears organization has grown to love and appreciate.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;ll be cool to see Ochocinco become a mentor and coach for Odunze, as it&#8217;ll only take his game to the next level.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Image: David Banks &#8211; Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Cincinnati Bengals two-time All-Pro wide receiver and six-time Pro Bowler Chad &#8220;Ochocinco&#8221; Johnson has turned his attention to one of the Chicago Bears&#8217; brightest young stars. After Chicago&#8217;s thrilling 47-45 win over Johnson&#8217;s former team, the outspoken NFL legend took to X to send a message directly to second-year wideout Rome Odunze. Johnson wrote: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4976,"featured_media":253985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,36,6431],"tags":[7762,7403,32283],"class_list":["post-253976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bears","category-nfl-news","category-nfl-teams","tag-chad-johnson","tag-chicago-bears-news","tag-rome-odunze"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253976"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253989,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253976\/revisions\/253989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}