Chad Johnson Jail Reflection: Football Star Reveals Lessons He Learned

By Christine Thomasos, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Chad Johnson, the 35-year-old NFL free agent, recently showed his appreciation for a judge who previously sentenced him to 30 days in jail.

Johnson upset Judge Kathleen McHugh in a Broward County, Fla. courthouse when he patted his lawyer's behind following a plea deal from a domestic dispute case working in his favor. While the judge sentenced Johnson to 30 days in jail, he only had to serve seven of them after apologizing to the judge.

The flamboyant football star admitted that he learned from his mistakes while appearing on "Good Morning America" recently.

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"I think with me being Chad it kind of made the judge feel that I wasn't being serious about the situation but, trust me, I understood exactly what I did," he said on GMA recently.

"I lost two of the things in life that I love the most at the time. Football and my now beautiful, I did say beautiful, ex-wife."

Johnson explained his reasoning for slapping his attorney on the behind.

"I know there's a certain thing called courtroom etiquette. I've never been a part of the courtroom system. It was a light tap," he explained on GMA.

"It wasn't in any way to disrespect the courtroom and I actually didn't think anyone would see that because it was my third time doing so.That's the way I've always interacted throughout life, just in general."

Johnson's attorney, Adam Swickle, said he believe the football player would act accordingly from now on.

"He understands that this is the kind of situation that can derail a person's career," Swickle said, according to a USA Today report. "We're very confident he will do what he should do."

Johnson said he is thankful to the judge for teaching him the lesson.

"I think that Judge McHugh was able to get me do something many people have tried to get me to do for a long time: slow down, just at life in general. She was able to get me to do that," he revealed on GMA.

"Maybe not in the best circumstances for those on the outside but I see being able to sit down and think about life and where I'm going from this point was probably one of the best things that could happen to me right now."