Clocking Ochocinco All in the Show

Ray Lewis hit Chad Ochocinco in the mouth a couple of Sundays ago in Baltimore’s game versus Cincinnati.

Predictably, the NFL took exception. The league fined Lewis $25,000 for breaking its "defenseless receiver" rule among other charges of unnecessary roughness on a play where Ochocinco was clocked coming across the middle late in the fourth quarter of Cincinnati’s compelling 17-14 win over Baltimore.

You would think Ochocinco would be fuming mad and pointing to Nov. 8 for retaliation when the Ravens and Bengals hook up again in Cincinnati. But with Lewis and Ochocinco, two of the league’s premier players, everything is not always what it seems.

Ochocinco’s pummeling reverberated around the league that Sunday and ignited a mini-firestorm over the state of rough play in the NFL. Old-school NFL types may besmirch Lewis for the hit and say he deserved the fine. Granted, the league did have to fine Lewis in its attempt to reduce unnecessary injuries.

Only this was different.

(Continue to DMA 7-22 Sports)