Chad Ochocinco swears by his exceptional intelligence and ability to do anything. However, he made it difficult to believe this week when he struggled to spell “colonel” during the latest episode of Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe.

They have done a spelling bee segment on their popular show for some time now, but the former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver’s performance this week was the most concerning yet. Sharpe gave him the word and definition, but it was all downhill from there.

“F**k,” Ocho said upon realizing he didn’t know where to begin. “You know what? This is tricky. ‘Cause colonel could start with a C, colonel could start with a K. But I remember goddamn—I know Colonel Sanders. I remember Colonel [Bradford Taylor] from A Different World.” Unfortunately, his familiarity with those characters did not help his ability to spell “colonel.”

The segment got even funnier when Chad Ochocinco finally began to spell the word, saying “C-U.” Shannon Sharpe immediately asked “What the hell?” before trying to assist his co-host. Ocho refused the help, saying that the word only seemed easy to Sharpe because he was looking at it.

At this point, it seemed like a lost cause, so the Club Shay Shay host decided to take a dig at the six-time Pro Bowler. “Boy, if you won the spelling bee in third grade, I’d hate to see what them other kids… Them other kids must’ve walked backwards,” he said. Ocho reminded him that he had a 4.0 GPA in third grade, and Sharpe fired back saying it was on a 10-point grading system.

Chad was hilariously blown away when he learned that the word “colonel” had an “l” in it. “I like doing this, I like doing this,” he said. “This is very humbling, I’m not gonna lie to you. As smart as I am when it comes to other facets of my life, spelling just seems not to be my strong suit.”

Chad Ochocinco caught wind of the clip on X and quoted it, writing, “Any of you without a military background knew how to spell Colonel, you don’t have to pretend to be Akeelah & the Bee for twitter, be honest.”

Why is this especially funny? Because just over a year ago, he sat with GQ Sports for their “10 Things Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson Can’t Live Without” segment and bragged about being a spelling bee winner in kindergarten. They may not have been asking him to spell words like “colonel” back then, but it does make one raise an eyebrow when seeing his latest spelling bee performance.

At least we know that the media personality can hold his own at rhyming words. He made a surprise appearance URL Rap Battle’s Volume XI event and battled both DNA and Charlie Clips. This came after weeks of him calling out the current crop of battle rappers and claiming he was better than them all. He plans to mix it up with Arsonal next.

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