Chad Ochocinco does something really cool for grieving widow

Ochocinco is getting married Wednesday, and he'll do so in front of a last-minute invitee. (Getty Images)

Every once in a while a famous, rich athlete acts exactly the way you'd expect yourself to act if you were in the same position as that famous, rich athlete. In other words, with all those riches and power, you'd do something cool as hell for somebody less fortunate.

It sounds like Dolphins receiver Chad Ochocinco did that Tuesday when he apparently invited a grieving fan to his wedding.

It all started when a woman named Cheryl Minton from Franklin, Ohio, (who writes that she enjoys animals, reality TV and MMA) tweeted a message to Ochocinco -- who's getting married to reality TV star Evelyn Lozada on Wednesday -- that read, “I'm feeling pretty low today. Lost my hubby 2 weeks ago. Together 30 years. Very hard. Please pray for me. Thanks.”

Ochocinco responded by asking if she had a passport. She said she did, and Ochocinco wrote back asking if she could pack and be a guest at his wedding. She said yes, and he sent her this:

Check ya DM... Just start packing... Evelyn will make arrangements... see you tonight/early a.m. RT @cheryl2958:Yes.where is it?

— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) July 3, 2012

Predictably, she was thrilled, penning, “OK, I'm flabbergasted. I love you.”

That caused at least one person to question Minton's motivation (and with Twitter, it'd be shocking if this DIDN'T happen), writing to Ochocinco that all Minton does is “tweet to famous people.”

Naturally, I did a little research, and here's what I found. She tweeted to Ochocinco on June 25 and twice on July 1, telling him of her loss and wishing him well in his relationship. She also informed a few other celebrities that her husband had died.

So, what can we draw from that? Not much. Minton could be lying or faking or whatever, but she's probably not (this assumes that there is such a person as Cheryl Minton). It's probably just a grieving window who's been given a beautiful gift from Ochocinco. And if that's really the case, isn't that how you'd expect yourself to act if you had the money and power of Chad Ochocinco?

UPDATED (6:23 p.m. ET): It appears that Minton's story is true. A Lebanon, Ohio native named Denny Hinton died June 20, and according to his obituary, he leaves behind a wife of 28 years named Cheryl.

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