Remember a couple of weeks ago when a former teammate of Chad Johnson's said that he threw a punch at Marvin Lewis at halftime of a playoff game? Johnson denied throwing any punches on ESPN's First Take this morning.

"Of course, there were no punches thrown. Anything of that nature, I would've been released. I would've been cut right away. I was unhappy about the first half, the way we were playing. We were winning at the time, so I was out of place with my frustration. Really about not being able to help with what we were doing offensively, and that was it. Coach Lewis had to restrain me, Coach Jackson had to restrain me, and that was it."

I do hate to quibble, but there are a couple things I feel I should mention.

First, the fact that Johnson wasn't released, to me, is no proof that he didn't punch anyone. T.J. Houshmandzadeh could go out tomorrow and throw a dozen boy scouts off of a cliff, and Marvin Lewis isn't going to do anything about it.

Odell Thurman's still a Bengal. Chris Henry's still a Cincinnati Bengal, and he's been arrested, what, 819 times? He's still a Bengal. If guys like that aren't getting cut, it's hardly a given that Lewis would cut a guy for punching him. Maybe he would, but, again, it's not a lock.

Also, I'm unclear on why Chad had to be restrained. The Bengals were winning, Chad was upset he wasn't getting the ball enough, he's selfish, he needs to be the center of attention, yeah, I get that. But who was he mad at? If Lewis and Jackson had to restrain him, I assume they weren't the ones he was going after, but if not them, then who?

He was also asked if it was true he wanted to be traded, or if he wanted to remain a Bengal, and the answer was a very long, "I don't know." You can see video of the whole thing here.

I'll have a similar response if anyone asks me if I think their team is better off employing Chad Johnson.

Related: NFL Criminal Behavior