By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer

Chad Johnson's world got a lot bigger in the past year.

His guarantee that the 4-5 Bengals would defeat 9-0 Kansas City made national sports news.

And when the Bengals did win, 24-19 thanks in part to Johnson's seven catches, a media darling was born. But reporters from around the country found out this guy was not just talk and end zone flash. He could play.

In just his third NFL season, the Bengals wide receiver was voted to his first Pro Bowl and set a franchise record with 1,355 receiving yards.

The Bengals rewarded Johnson with a five-year, $26 million contract extension in November. This year they made him the face of the organization and put him on billboards and pocket schedules: "Bengals football: Guaranteed fun." Johnson's likeness is now an action figure and bobblehead. His No. 85 replica jersey is one of the NFL's top five sellers. And he's dipping his toe into commercial waters with Reebok.

"Man, it can't get no better than this," Johnson says. "The whole thing is being able to have all this going on around me and still being able to perform on the field.

"I've worked from the bottom to the top. That's why I have such a respect for everything I have. I love what I do. To accomplish the goals I have, you can't go through the motions. You have to love it. I love this game."

• • •

The end zone is one of Chad Johnson's favorite places.

He was there 10 times in 2003 and became as well-known for his celebrations as he did for his play.

His throat slash, a gesture Johnson says was misinterpreted, drew a 15-yard penalty after he scored the winning touchdown in Cincinnati's 27-24 win over Seattle on Oct. 26.

In December, he unveiled a sign after a touchdown: "NFL: PLEASE don't fine me ... AGAIN!!! Merry Christmas."

The league tightened its rules in the offseason to crack down on end-zone celebrations such as these. They now carry a 15-yard penalty.

But Johnson still will celebrate. He considered taping a celebration to run on the stadium video screen but nixed the idea - not spontaneous enough.

"I'm going to celebrate. It's me," he says. "But with the rules changes, I will limit what I do and make sure anything I do will not be detrimental to my team or cause me to lose any of my money. But there will be something every time."

Johnson says he drew fines totaling almost $100,000 in 2003 for uniform violations and excessive celebrations.

• • •

Chad Johnson's world would be an empty place without football. He's happiest on the field.

In training camp, coaches have to chase him off. Johnson wants to run every repetition but has learned to conserve some of his energy.

He spent draft weekend in the Bengals' stadium "war room."

"In 13 years of (NFL) coaching," says Bengals offensive Bob Bratkowski, "I've never been around a player who loves to practice it, talk it and play football as much as Chad."

And sleep it. Two nights a week during the 2003 season, Johnson slept at the stadium.

He says he will do it again this year. He'll cozy up on the couch in the players' lounge adjacent to the locker room and set an alarm clock.

"I have to. I can't lose my edge," Johnson says. "Those two days (Wednesday and Thursdays) are the heavy bulk of what we put in. I'll closely study the DB (defensive back) who might be following me on the field that day. It keeps me real focused."

• • •

Chad Johnson wants to enter a world inhabited by just one NFL receiver: the 1,800-yard club.

Jerry Rice reached 1,848 in 1995. The number has become almost an obsession for Johnson.

"If I say 2,000, I'll probably get 18. If I say 18, I'll probably fall a couple of hundred short," Johnson says. "But I went back and studied a lot of film and I wasn't too far off that, a catch here and catch there.

"I got a little deeper on this route, I took an extra step on this play. I'm looking at all these little plays. It's a bunch of little things that really add up when you look back at the end of a season."

Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh thinks Johnson can do it. They were teammates in college at Oregon State before being drafted the same year, 2001, by the Bengals.

"He's more confident now, really," says Houshmandzadeh, who was picked in the seventh round, five rounds after Johnson. "Like the other day when he got his little action figure, he called people. It makes him happy. But it doesn't make him any different. He's still hungry."

• • •

Even when he's away from work, Chad Johnson finds himself on the sidelines of local high school and college football games.

He's a regular at Miami University games in Oxford, and he gets out to as many La Salle and Elder games as possible.

"It's nothing but a three-hour getaway," Johnson says. "It gets my mind off what's going to happen on Sunday.

Why Elder and La Salle?

"Only two I know how to get to," he says.

• • •

There aren't a lot of toys in Chad Johnson's world.

There's the iPod he bought earlier this week.

"Love it," he says. "I've got 400-500 songs - Tupac, R. Kelly. I've got 9,000 to go."

Then there's the 1971 Chevrolet Caprice Classic. Pink exterior and interior. Detailed with his initials on one headrest and his number on the other. Four images of the cartoon character Piglet decorate the car inside and out.

The significance?

"Just the color, baby," Johnson says. "It was the only thing that matched."

There is one toy that he wants, but he's going to make himself earn it.

"I very badly want a Lamborghini, but I need to play a little bit more and see if the off-field money will take care of the Lamb," Johnson says.

• • •

It was during a break on a commercial set - a new horizon in his world - that Chad Johnson says he finally learned that he is what he eats.

Notorious for his eating habits, which had consisted of fast-food fare for several years, Johnson got a nutrition lesson from Rams wide receiver Torry Holt.

"He was eating a big salad," Johnson says, "and I asked him, 'Is that what you do all the time?'

"And he said, 'Yeah. You've got to try taking care of your body even better. Think of how you perform now, and you can increase your performance 5-10 percent just by what you intake into your body.'

"I sat there and thought, 'Anything that's going to help me better myself on that field, I'm going to do.' "

He had to purge his system. Early in training camp, Johnson had cramps in both calves after a reception along the sideline.

As trainers worked his legs, coach Marvin Lewis walked over. Johnson looked up, as if expecting compassion.

"You know why that happens?" Lewis said. "It's all that (junk) you eat."

After that day, Johnson says, he hasn't cramped once. He increased his fluid intake, so much so that he once vomited Gatorade on the practice field. The only fast food he gets near now is an occasional chicken sandwich.

• • •

Chad Johnson knows the source of his gifts is not in this world.

On the inside of his left forearm is a tattoo that reads: "Real Men Pray."

He says, "I got it when I got in the league. I remembered my grandmother always told me real men pray and to pray not just when you need (God) but to pray all the time."

On his right forearm are the words "God is my strength."

"He's the reason I'm here," Johnson says. "When I'm tired, I look down and get strength."

He says he follows his grandmother's advice.

"For my health, my family, my grandma, my mom, all my teammates," Johnson says of his prayer intentions. "There is a side of me that people don't ever see."

• • •

Chad Johnson would like to take up residence in Canton, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, when his playing days end.

Lewis, often stingy with compliments, says Johnson can get there.

"He can be as good as anybody who ever played the game," the coach says. "He's got the athletic skills and the want-to. He just has to keep putting it all together, and he can be that good."

BY THE NUMBERS

Chad Johnson's statistics in his first three NFL seasons:

Year	G-S	Rec.	Yards	Ave.	Long	TD
2001	12-3	28	329	11.8	28	1
2002	16-14	69	1,166	16.9	72t	5
2003	16-14	90	1,355	15.1	82t	10
Career	44-31	187	2,850	15.2	82t	16

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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