Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, the former NFL wide receiver, attributes his great football career to McDonald’s. Today, he is the owner of three McDonald’s locations in Miami, Indiana, and Cincinnati.
Johnson shared that, as a child, McDonald’s was a regular component of his diet because it was cheap. “When I was a kid, burgers were 50 cents,” Johnson told GQ Sports earlier this year. “Fries were 20 cents. Therefore, it was all we could afford when I was a kid.
“You know what happened when I was little too when I ate McDonald’s? I never got hurt. You know what else I did as a kid when I ate McDonald’s? I dominated everything that I did, even in kindergarten,” he added.
The former Cincinnati Bengals player stated on the “I Am Athlete” podcast in 2021 that eating McDonald’s frequently over healthier options allowed him to acquire an injury-free body capable of sustaining tackles. Even when his co-host, Brandon Marshall, emphasized the need of following a strict diet in order to recover from an injury and win a Super Bowl, Johnson disagreed. He mentioned how enjoyable it was to visit McDonald’s both during and between football seasons.
He said in one of the episodes, “I never got f–ing hurt, never… you know why? Because I ate McDonald’s, and I built a f-ing callus in my body.”
According to the New York Post, the renowned athlete stated that every first date he’s ever gone on has been at McDonald’s. He works out while eating it and has had it delivered to him while in a nightclub’s VIP area.
Johnson earned a reputation as one of the NFL’s most flashy players. According to CBS Sports, despite the image he constructed of himself, Johnson was an extremely frugal player when he first entered the league.
When he originally entered the NFL, he stayed in the Cincinnati Bengals’ stadium for the first two years to save money. As a rookie in the NFL, he stated that there was no need to spend and squander money because everything he required was at the stadium.