Updated: 6:05 p.m.
Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco can count on one viewer when he makes his network TV debut later this year on ABC's *Dancing With The Stars. *
"Fired up. Excited to watch Chad on the show," Palmer texted Monday when news surfaced The Ocho had been recruited to dance on stage instead of in the end zone.
TMZ.com reported Monday that Ochocinco is expected to be named a cast member of The Stars *that begins filming later this month. The web site says the official announcement comes during Monday's season finale of *The Bachelor at 8 p.m.
"I've never seen it before," Palmer said. "But I'll be a fan of it now because I'm a fan of his."
This year's Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees, Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith, have done the show, as has Warren Sapp. The Bengals begin their offseason workouts March 29 but The Ocho hasn't arrived the last two years until June. He made only the mandatory minicamp in '08 and last year he hit part of one week of the voluntaries before the mandatory.
Last month head coach Marvin Lewis said he expected Ochocinco to surface when the Bengals hit the field in May, but in an interview last month The Ocho sounded like he may be going on his own again.
"'l'll sit down and talk to Coach Lewis about it," he said back on Feb. 12. "I just think I know what I need to get myself ready. I want to do what I did last year; stay under wraps. Pop up out of nowhere and have everybody's jaw drop. It's been 10 years. Carson and I have been together so long we just need training camp to get (timed up). We're a running team now."
He offered a tweet at 5:11 p.m. Monday that said he was "at the W hotel in Hollywood, OSCARS here I come." He has been threatening for weeks to crash an Oscars rehearsal as well as the show.
Meanhile, Palmer is beginning his rehab from surgery for the torn ligament in his left thumb. He says the pins have been pulled out and the cast cut off.
