Ochocinco to tryout at forward for SKC
Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes confirmed
that NFL Pro Bowl receiver Chad Ochocinco will be trying out with the club as a
forward, although he reiterated that he felt it was “a long shot” that Ochocinco could
make the team.
The American football star’s four-day trial begins Wednesday
with a training session at Swope Park Training Center at 10 a.m. CT. Fans can watch the training live at www.Sporting85.com, with commentary from Sporting KC's broadcast tandem of Callum Williams and Sasha Victorine.
Vermes spoke to ExtraTime Radio earlier this week about the four-day trial and what he expects from Ochocinco.
“He’s more for a forward, which doesn’t surprise me – trying
to get behind defenses,” Vermes said. “But the big thing will
be that once he gets behind the defense, can he actually finish the ball off and
make the final pass. That’s going to be the big thing.”
LISTEN: Vermes on ExtraTime Radio
With the NFL currently in the midst of a player lockout, Ochocinco
pursued the opportunity to try out for Sporting via Twitter. However, Vermes
only extended the invite after speaking to the player over the phone.
“He assured me that he wasn’t after this just for a media
sake,” Vermes said. “He said soccer has been his No. 1 sport and his passion, and if he could do it all over again, he said that he would love to play soccer.
He just was talked into going into football by his grandparents, who raised him.”
Ochocinco has been working out with a soccer trainer in
South Florida for several days to get into “soccer shape,” according to Vermes.
On Tuesday, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver tweeted that he was “extremely
nervous about tomorrow's trial but anxious to meet the players and compete
against some of the world's best.”
Sporting said they’re going to treat Ochocinco
like any other trialist.
Vermes did not believe that the attempt to make it in
professional soccer was so outrageous. He pointed to the story of the science
teacher-turned-MLB player Jim Morris, who won a spot on the Tampa Bay Devil
Rays back in 1999 at the age of 35. He also cited track star Vince Papale, who would
go on to become an NFL player.
“I’ve had many players come in here on trial and a 99 percent
of them had lesser physical tools than he does,” Vermes said of Ochocinco. “For
that reason – and that reason only – it’s going to be a very curious way to look at
a player."
Regardless of how big the media circus gets around Ochocinco’s
arrival on Wednesday, Kansas City are still focused on making it two
wins in a row to start their 2011 MLS season. They face the Chicago Fire on
Saturday at Toyota Park.
“Our players understand that we have to get ready for our next
opponent this week,” Vermes said. “We won’t change training or our preparation
for this opponent in any way, shape or form with him
coming in. I told him he’s going to have to be respectful and understand we
have a job at hand, and he realizes that.”
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