The Travails of Terrell Owens

Originally published by The Master Report (Sacramento, CA)

Dec. 2005

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The Travails Of T.O.
By Mark Bryant

Once upon a time, there was this real nice kid from the Deep South who became a star receiver overnight and replaced a legendary player. Why, he even set a record for catches on a day that was supposedly set aside to fete the aging incomparable Jerry Rice.

Terrell Owens—what a player. He's the best, man. The guy's a driven superstar who is just misunderstood. Yeah, that's the key phrase, misunderstood. He might diss a fellow teammate (Donovan McNabb), might question their manhood (Jeff Garcia), but hey, the guy's a fun-loving prankster and boys will be boys. Besides when was the last time you saw him go Bill Romanowski on somebody?

He was respectful and polite, and always addressed reporters as "sir" and "ma'am", which in the lexicon of pro sports hierarchy is like a sergeant major saluting a private.

Players don't make a habit of congeniality towards the press.

Such a nice guy. He even gave a tribute a while back to his strict grandmother who never let him so much as go past the front yard while raising him. He used to never be allowed to play with the other kids unless he snuck out. Yeah, that's the ticket in getting to the bottom of why he can't seem to fit in and keep his mouth shut. His tragic youth.

Then he stood on the star at midfield in Irving, Texas and became T.O. That was his coming out party and arrival on the scene.

T.O. just wants to be loved and admired, and seeks attention because he's not getting enough of those. Hey, doesn't everybody? All he needs is a little love. So what's wrong with you people? He just got done catching his hundredth TD reception. No acknowledgment from the Eagles? 'Tis a travesty. Give him his due already.

I don't profess to understand or know a lot of Terrell Eldorado Owens' actions, incendiary comments, and most of all mindset. I do know that a lot of "true"sports fans have been deeply offended by his habit of turning the NFL on its' ear wherever he goes. The sad thing is that ninety percent of these so-called purists would welcome him to their team in a second.

Maybe he's just going about things in the wrong way. Maybe he needs to beat his wife or girlfriend, get caught with a pound of weed in his car somewhere, engage in a good-old fashioned bar fight, or do a bunch of steroids. Then maybe he wouldn't have to worry so much about being vilified for his mouthy, self aggrandizing demeanor.

T.O. burned bridges in San Francisco and now Philadelphia because for one thing, he refuses to at least carry the pretense of being discreet about voicing opinions related to teammates and authority figures—i.e. coaches and management. In the NFL, this is a no-no. You don't diss the guys you line up with on Sundays. It's like being in a foxhole. For another, he doesn't seem to realize his impact on team morale when he chooses to act out and make inflammatory comments. He doesn't think he's doing anything wrong. Then he acts as if his status as pariah is unfair when he is duly informed of his transgression.

Ahhh, just a symptom and manifestation of his inhumane treatment at the hands of the press, fans, management and players. Don't they realize his greatness? The man is unloved, unwanted and unappreciated, pure and simple. Conduct, schmonduct. Team rules, accountability and consequences are for the scrubs and civilians. Shame on the Eagles for their failure to anoint T.O. as the sacred cow he is.

After all he did for them? Playing on a broken leg in the Super Bowl? They lionize Jack Youngblood for doing the same thing but T.O. gets no love for putting his life and limb at risk. Whadda pity. He has every right to ask for mo' money. Contract, schmontract. Just reciprocate, baby!

T.O.'s biggest problem, however, is that he and his flamboyant, individualist personality would be more suited to the NBA. He moonlights as a part-time basketball player (he was denied by the Eagles permission to play in the Continental Basketball Association during this past off-season.)

See? They don't let him do what he wants. A guy like that who's a genuine superstar, you check with HIM on whether to do or not do something, yes sir. Especially when the said superstar is getting paid a superstar's contract. Yeah, buddy. As soon as everyone gets it through their thick head that the man is a god, the better off we'll all be.

A hoops superstar can make even a terrible team respectable, but the NFL is first and foremost a team game and a player can only be as good as his team puts him in a position to be. They call it "football" for that reason, not "T.O." T.O. wants to play "T.O." while the rest of his teammates play the conventional sport, and that isn't going to work. It certainly didn't during his latest escapade that culminated into him being told by the Eagles he was no longer welcome.

Allegedly, he said in a radio interview (with Michael Irvin, that prince of peace, no less) that the Eagles would be better served by having a QB other than Donovan McNabb in the lineup, namely Brett Favre of Green Bay.

Migawd, T.O. has every right to play his own game. It's called self-expression and it's just what this boring, PC-ized, neutered and sterilized NFL needs. He needs for everyone to see where he's coming from and stop hatin' on him.

T.O. is certainly not the first player to have a reputation for complaining loudly when things don't go his way or when he doesn't get the ball enough. Rice routinely was known for prima-donna behavior throughout his years with the Niners. The trick was, that Rice had the presence of mind to keep his ego in check most of the time. T.O. clearly doesn't understand the sophistication of keeping one's image intact, and this is what causes him grief.

Maybe it's just too much to ask superstars to have a bit of restraint and respect for their profession these days. Maybe T.O. is just exposing sport as entertainment and we all should just let him roam free, let him wave pom-poms, dance and stand on logos to his heart's delight. After all, for every one minute of airtime talk shows are aflame with the latest transgression of a knucklehead, three dozen kids from ages eight to eighty have already bought his latest jersey down at the local shopping mall. For the pernicious publicity, I think it's kind of an even trade-off.