An Interview With the Guy Who Washed Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson in FIFA Nine Times

Halloween is for the kids, no matter how you try to spin it. Fam, you’re kind of embarrassing yourself if you’re 30-plus and dressing up as Captain America. On the other hand, dressing up in something regrettable is better than staying home handing out candy. Jimmy Russo, 23, had planned on keeping his grown ass at home in Lindenwood, New York this Halloween. What happened would end up being much more memorable than handing out Kit Kat’s to the kids. He whooped Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson’s ass in FIFA 17. Nine times.

We caught up with Russo to talk about his most unusual Halloween and how he was able to body Johnson in the former baller's favorite video game. 

What were your original plans for Halloween? Did you have anything going on?
My original plans for Halloween were to stay home and do nothing. I had no plans, I was hanging out with my friend Nick when I saw the original tweet by Ocho and that’s how everything took off.

Chad Johnson does this a lot. He goes on Twitter and takes people’s challenges and goes to where they work, where they live, etc. Is this something that you’ve been trying for a while?
I actually looked on my Twitter today at an old tweet I had from 2011 asking Chad to play me in FIFA. So I been pretty much asking him for five years, because he talks a lot about how good he is and I never seen anyone better than me. So I’ve been really excited to play him for a long time. 

So he was in NYC and he tweeted something along the lines of “who wants to play FIFA—”
All my friends know I’m good at FIFA, so they saw he was in the city and they all kind of spammed his mentions to get him to play me.

So it was all your boys really?
Yeah, it was a big team effort.

What was the initial reaction when he DM’d you?
I kind of lost my mind. I started jumping up and down in place because from his past history, when he accepts someone’s challenge, he shows up. He DM’d me his location, said he was eating lunch in Times Square, I sent him my phone number and he said was gonna let me know when comes.

He does this a lot, so Chad has to be really good, so when he DM’d you did you suddenly become nervous? 
I was very nervous but I knew that I wasn’t going to lose because at the end of the day he’s just a regular guy, he’s not a professional FIFA player. There’s not many people better than me at that game, but I was mostly nervous because everyone knows that I’ve been asking to play this guy for years. If I lost I would’ve never heard the end of it. I didn’t want to look like an idiot.

What was the waiting game like waiting for him to pull up to your house?
There was no waiting game. I was home setting up the Playstation in the living room, and out of nowhere my phone started ringing and it was a Miami area code. I pick up and he’s like, “Hey it’s Chad, I’m outside.” His hotel sent him in a car. He was awesome in person. He was really a great dude, showed mad love, and we just walked into my house and started playing. Just like that. Quick.

So he didn’t have a bougie attitude?
No not at all. Chad is as good as it gets. It’s very surprising because his on-field personality was very cocky, but Chad is as good as it comes.

What was your thought process about shit-talking him, since he’s famous and also someone you don’t know?
I told as soon as he got out the car, ‘You know I’m gonna bust your ass right?’ And he says, “No you’re not.” I definitely didn’t act the way I think other people would around him. When we first started playing I scored on him and said, “Get this guy the fuck out of my house!”  So he kind of got the vibe that I was not gonna be timid around him. 

How many games did you guys play? How many did he win?
Ten. He beat me once.

So you beat the famous Chad Ochocinco nine times out of ten?
[Laughs.] Yeah, I beat him nine times and my friend Brennan also beat him once, 2-1.

Were there any close games?
I would say six of them were blow outs. [Laughs.] Six of them were not close at all. One game I remember it was Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid—he only uses Real Madrid. He uses the best team in the game and it is what it is. In the 90th minute, it was 2-2, and I scored to end it. I have it on video—his reaction was priceless. He was really upset. 

What teams were you using?
I switched it up between four teams. When I used Spain, he used Portugal; he’s like a die-hard Ronaldo fan. We got into a huge argument about Ronaldo and Messi.

He was using Madrid and someone said I should use Barcelona. They were saying I needed Messi—he’s the only guy better than Ronaldo. And Chad looked back and said, “What are you kidding me? No way! You’re crazy. Ronaldo is the best player in the world. No way Messi is better than Ronaldo." He’s a die-hard Ronaldo fan. 

Did he stick around afterwards?
He stuck around, we ordered some pizza and watched the Monday Night Football game.

He’s the rich guy, so did he offer to pay for it?
Absolutely. We ordered from New Park Pizza. He immediately offered to pay. We ordered 5 pies and stuff came out to around 100 bucks, and we’re tallying how much it would cost for all of us to pay and Chad was like, “Guys, shut up. Seriously. I got this.” The food came and he wanted to pay with a card and New Park doesn’t accept cards. I don’t think he walks around with cash to random people’s houses, so we all had to chip in for the pizza, but Chad immediately offered to pay for everyone’s stuff.

So he doesn’t live by Randy Moss’ famous words, "Straight cash homie"?
[Laughs.] No, no he doesn’t. Not to random people’s houses.

Saw that your mom was at the house when Chad was there.
My mom went out and walked our dog, Pal. We were playing and she walked in and immediately became a good host. She asked him if wanted anything, and out of all the things this guy could ask for he says, “Do you have a latte? Can I get a latte?”

She said she couldn’t make him a latte, but offered to get him one. So being a good host, my mom went and got Dunkin' Donuts for everyone and got Chad a latte.

You had your boys there—was there anything you didn’t want them to say that could piss him off?
Yeah, one of my friends is an idiot. He asked what he thought about the song “Ochocinco” by French Montana and he kind of just shook it off and didn’t answer.

Jimmy is open to any and all challenges in FIFA. If you want a shot at the man who beat the great Ochocinco, DM him @j_halas34.