On Monday afternoon, TMZ reported that Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco will participate in the upcoming new season of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

Ochocinco ignored the matter on his Twitter page, stating instead that people shouldn’t “believe rumors unless OCNN reports.”

Moments ago, ABC announced that Ochocinco will indeed be one of the contestants, along with a group that includes ESPN’s Erin Andrews and former astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

On the surface, the development has no significance to football. But it means that, if Chad progresses through the competition, he could eventually miss most if not all of the team’s voluntary offseason workouts.

It could be enough to get coach Marvin Lewis to say, “Child please.”