Ochocinco and Bears Not Enemies After All

Sometimes, a Twitpic says a thousand abbreviated, symbol-laden words. 

Yes, that's Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, flanked on both sides by Bears quarterback Jay Cuter and Bears tight end Greg Olsen. The trio dined at Morton's Steakhouse in Cincinnati on Saturday night just 16 hours before Ochocinco's Bengals feasted on the Bears.

Normally, this wouldn't be so surprising. Players are friends with the opposition all the time in the NFL; most players don't hate each other nearly as much as fans might want them to. And really, it's only hospitable of Ochocinco to invite the lads to dinner upon their arrival.

What makes this a little different is last week's Twitter war, in which Ochocinco did his best to provoke the Bears into engaging in some silly 140-character trash-talk. Ochocinco got Cutler's attention in the fracas, and Cutler acted just like he does when someone asks him a postgame question he doesn't particularly like: angry, bemused and annoyed. It didn't seem possible that Cutler's (and Olsen's, for that matter) low-key styles would mesh well with a guy who seems more concerned with inventing catchphrases than he does winning football games. And yet, here they were.

Of course, we all know what happened next. Ochocinco had one of his best games of the season on the way to a 45-10 Bengals win. The Bears? Not so much. Maybe Cutler ought to consider getting dinner in the hotel room next time. If he wants, he can even wear his awesome tie.

Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. He is the editor of Yahoo! Sports college basketball blog The Dagger and a contributor to Inside The Hall. Follow him at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com, or on Twitter.