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http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_...?urn=nfl,200914

Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:53 pm EST

Chad Ochocinco tries to 'bribe' official on replay ruling

By Chris Chase

The artful use of a folded bill can get people past a long line at a club, seated quickly

at a restaurant with a 45-minute wait or, as countless detective shows have demonstrated,

a good piece of information from a cab driver with a hazy memory. As Chad Ochocinco(notes)

found out today, it will not get you a call during an NFL game.

The impish Cincinnati Bengals receiver playfully tried to bribe an NFL official today during

his team's game with its division rival, the Baltimore Ravens. With the Cincinnati Bengals

up 14-3 in the third quarter, Ochocinco caught a 15-yard Carson Palmer(notes) pass near the

sideline. The side judge ruled it a catch, but the Ravens contended that Ochocinco's foot

was out of bounds. While the ref was under the hood looking at the replay, Ochocinco

borrowed a dollar bill from an assistant and playfully tried to hand the one-spot to

another official.

Ochocinco was smiling the entire time and, as you can see above, the official put

a stop to the hijinks before they really began. It didn't work, the ref overturned

the call on the field and ruled that the pass was incomplete.

You're either going to be in one of two camps with this. Either you think it's

hilarious (like me) or you think that the mere appearance of bribery toward

officials is uncouth and needs to be dealt with swiftly. Judging by his track

record, Roger Goodell will fall firmly in the latter camp. Expect a fine for

Ochocinco, even though nobody will seriously think that this was ever meant

to be anything but a goof.

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Ochocinco says he was fined $20,000 for $1 ‘bribe’

By JOE KAY, AP Sports Writer

48 minutes ago

CINCINNATI (AP)—Chad Ochocinco’s(notes) pretend $1 bribe is going to cost him a lot more.

The Cincinnati Bengals receiver says he has been fined $20,000 for taking a dollar bill onto

the field during an officials’ review of one of his catches during a 17-7 win over Baltimore

on Sunday. Ochocinco held the dollar in his right hand at his side but didn’t give it to

the official, who motioned for him to stay away.

The NFL has cracked down on players using props during games. It also prohibits insulting

gestures toward officials.

In response to the fine, Rock Software, Inc.—which made Ochocinco’s iPhone application—says

it will donate an additional $20,000 in the receiver’s name to the Hillview Acres home

for abused children in Chino, Calif.