At the urging of the kid’s father, T.J. Houshmandzadeh talked to an LSU freshman wide receiver and counseled him to never get outworked.
Five years later Houshmandzadeh is urging Ja’Marr Chase to break his single-season Bengals record of 112 catches. Told after Thursday’s practice he’s got 86 with five games to go, Chase lit up.
“I got it. Don’t worry about it. I got it. We’re good. Trying to get 117,” Chase said. “Let’s kill it. Shatter it. I’ve got it written down (as a goal). I don’t want to be close to what he has. I want it to be harder for someone else. That’s all.”
Heading into Sunday’s Paycor Stadium game against the Colts (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Channel 12) Chase is fifth in the NFL in catches and fifth in yards. That puts him on pace for 122 catches and 1,505 yards, breaking his own Bengals yardage record with the first 1,500-yard season in club history.
“Tell him to break that (bleep). That’s why it’s there,” said Houshmandzadeh Thursday from Orange County, Calif., where he lives, a bit surprised the record has hung around since 2007.
“With 17 games, it’s definitely going to get broken sooner rather than later,” Houshmandzadeh said. “He’s going to be with the Bengals for ten years. If he doesn’t do it this year, he’s going to do it soon.”
Houshmandzadeh’s daughter Karrington was in Chase’s class at LSU and he was on campus frequently to watch some of her softball practices and games. At some point he crossed paths with Jimmy Chase and dad asked Houshmandzadeh to talk to Ja’Marr. Houshmandzadeh recalls the 15-minute conversation (“The basics. You know. Having all the talent isn’t it, but all that matters is work”).
Later as a Bengal, Ja’Marr Chase remembers meeting Houshmandzadeh with his daughter and he recognized Karrington from the LSU cafeteria.
“I said, ‘What the heck?’ That was funny,” Chase said.
Houshmandzadeh and Carl Pickens (with 100 in 1996), have the only century seasons in…
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