Lately, Terrell Owens — T.O. as he is more commonly and affectionately known in the NFL — has been making headlines yet again. The wide receiver, recently signed by the Buffalo Bills, showed up to voluntary team workouts a few weeks late. I’m just wondering, based on T.O.’s infamously rocky unions with his former NFL teams, is anyone surprised?
According to a recent espn.com article, T.O. said of being in the national spotlight, “That’s what’s so frustrating about the whole thing, is that everyone nitpicks at anything and everything I do.”
Now I understand that T.O. has his own personal trainer and that the team workouts were voluntary, which means that his attendance was not mandatory. So, I’m putting the issue of whether or not he made a good first impression with his new team aside.
I am more angered and amused, however, by T.O.’s complaint that people “nitpick” at everything he does. When you are T.O., that just comes with the territory.
Let’s rewind a few years to when T.O. played for the Philadelphia Eagles.
(I must admit that I am a bit biased whenever I hear news about T.O. and his antics. As a diehard Eagles fan, I basically bleed green. My house is full of every kind of Eagles memorabilia imaginable, and my parents have had season tickets for the past 25 years.)
When T.O. arrived in Philadelphia before the start of the 2004-05 NFL season, he was the talk of the town. Though he had caused a bit of trouble in San Francisco by getting into altercations with then-49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia, Philadelphia fans and the Eagles organization gave T.O. the benefit of the doubt when he signed with the team, in part because the Eagles desperately needed a big-time receiver. The talented T.O. seemed to be a perfect fit. But appearances can be deceiving.
T.O. had a very productive first season with the Eagles, hauling in 14 touchdowns and setting a new Eagles record in the process. But the marriage between T.O. and the Eagles organization was too good to be true. The mess began with Super Bowl XXXIX.
In the Super Bowl, a game that the Eagles lost to the New England Patriots 24-21, T.O. shined.
In his first game back from an ankle injury, T.O. caught nine passes for 122 yards while the rest of the team put up a somewhat lackluster and disappointing performance. So, I will give him credit where credit is due for his performance in Super Bowl XXXIX.
But when all was said and done, T.O. created a rift between him and the entire Philadelphia Eagles organization by publicly criticizing Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb after the game. In an interview with espn.com shortly after the Super Bowl, T.O. said, “I’m not the one who got tired in the Super Bowl,” which was an obvious stab at McNabb’s less than impressive performance in that game.
Now, in the matchup against the Patriots, it is true that McNabb did not put on his best performance. But when T.O. singled out his quarterback in a media interview, it opened a can of worms that wouldn’t close until long after T.O. left Philadelphia.
In the 2005 offseason, T.O. hired agent Drew Rosenhaus to renegotiate his contract with the Eagles. In 2004, T.O. had raked in $9 million, and he was scheduled to collect $4.5 million more in 2005. Rosenhaus and T.O. believed that the star receiver was worth more money, and the ensuing contract disagreement between the Eagles and T.O. sparked further trouble as the 2005-06 season began.
And things only got worse. After T.O. feuded with defensive end and locker-room leader Hugh Douglas on Nov. 5, 2005, head coach Andy Reid suspended T.O. for four games without compensation for disorderly conduct.
And after that, T.O. was deactivated for the rest of the season. At the end of the Eagles’ 6-10 season, T.O. left the Eagles. He will go down in Philadelphia sports history as one of its most hated figures ever.
Adding insult to injury in the hearts and minds of Philadelphia fans, our division rival, the Dallas Cowboys, signed T.O. that offseason. T.O.’s first season with the Cowboys went rather smoothly, and T.O. became a favorite target for Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.
When Romo started to make mistakes on the field, however, T.O. started to complain, criticizing Romo and the coaching staff for not getting him the ball enough. During the 2008 season, T.O. caught only 69 passes, his lowest total since 1999.
This offseason, the Cowboys released T.O., and he signed with the Buffalo Bills. Personally, I was just happy to see him get out of the NFC East. Good riddance.
Based on his track record in the NFL, I am not surprised that T.O. is making headlines yet again. Luckily for the Bills, they only signed him to a one-year deal.
I have my doubts as to whether T.O. is a good fit with the Bills. Buffalo’s starting quarterback is Trent Edwards, who is only entering his third season in the NFL. Last season, Edwards threw 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and Buffalo went 7-9.
Let’s see how long it takes T.O. to start complaining about more than the weather in Buffalo.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is T.O’s perception of what transpired between him and his former teams.
When asked what happened in his years with the Cowboys, T.O. said the following: “If you look at all the comments coming from my teammates with the Cowboys the past three years, it’s all been positive.”
This is clearly not the case. In a 2008 interview with espn.com, an anonymous Cowboy said of T.O., “It’s always something with him — San Fran, Philly and here, always something. And he brings other people into it.”
So, in short, I’m not surprised that T.O. is complaining, yet again, that people are “nitpicking” at what he does. Quite frankly, a player of his immense aptitude deserves to be “nitpicked.”
As talented as he has proven to be, he is more of a nuisance than anything else.
Who knows how long the honeymoon will last between T.O. and the Bills in frigid Buffalo. But if history repeats itself, the marriage will end soon.
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