Pity "The Last Row" gang.
Few real football fans are surprised by Terrell Owens' latest antics. Our own Dolfi and Walls had one good season of not seeing TO tear their beloved Eagles team to shreds, but the seeds of dissention have been sown, and Terrell is as usual at the heart of it all.
Do you think Westbrook, Mitchell and Simon would have all decided to try and "get theirs" at the same time if TO hadn't spouted off? No doubt Westbrook's agent would immediately try to renegotiate his client's deal after the great season BW had last year. And Freddie has been a thorn in coach Andy Reid's hind parts for a while now. But TO takes the crown for the biggest whiny ass crybaby in professional sports.
First he nixes a trade to a Baltimore team that was welcoming him with open arms. He throws a tantrum and get's his way, a union with buddy Donovan McNabb and a legitimate shot at a Super Bowl ring.
The wheels fell off immediately after the big game. Owens, who, as McNabb said has a tendency to throw bodies under the bus whenever it suits his purpose, did it again. McNabb should have known better, after seeing how TO handled his last partner, Jeff Garcia.
Terrell is a prime example of all that is wrong in professional sports. He is greedy, selfish, and completely without class in how he has handled his career. Donovan is just the latest, and almost certainly won't be the last, scapegoat sacrificed to the ego that is TO.
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| "Ain't no TEAM in TO. I'm #1" |
Owens is hugely talented. Like another misfit, Randy Moss, he has the ability to change the flow of a game with a single play. He said earlier when first broaching the subject of a new contract. "Look at my stature in the game".
I have.
What I see isn't complimentary. Heck, it would make a hooker blush. In fact hookers have more class. At least they provide the service to which they've been paid. Not Terrell. $46 million isn't enough, he is saying. Pay him more or he'll take his ball and go home. All the while he leaves those Eagles fans, once over-joyed by his arrival, dismayed by his latest antics.
You can hear the cheering in Dallas, Washington and New York.
TO has done in a few short weeks what the rest of the NFC couldn't do all last year. Derail the gravy train of a Super Bowl caliber team.
Jeremiah Trotter was recently asked about TO, according to an article by Clark Judge on CBS Sportsline. When asked if TO would play this year, Trotter is reported to have said "I don't know. I wouldn't count on it."
What happens if TO doesn't play? I know he is in breach of contract. Do they pay him? Do they fine him? Do they withold game checks every week he is AWOL? I'd love to see that. Hit him in his OTHER soft spot (ego being his primary one.) His wallet. Deflate the wallet, deflate the ego. Ok, maybe just dampen it a little.
TO could always sell hot air baloons....
Bill Belichek is nodding right now. His system of going for guys who fit the profile, the ego-less team concept, looks all the more enticing right now. Even spoil-sport Corey Dillon is a calmer, kinder man. Man being the key word here.
Terrell isn't a man. If he is, he certainly isn't acting like one. What I see is worse than a spoiled child. Even his own quarterback, the latest one TO has thrown to the wolves to cover his own idiocy, questioned his manhood. Publicly.
I've gained new-found respect for McNabb.
The saddest thing about this is TO will continue to play in this league, and any penalties will be short lived. The reason?
Because NFL owners will continue to put up with his antics. And someone, whether it be Daniel Snyder or Al Davis or someone else just won't care. They'll pony up with the check book, smile during the photo op with TO holding their team's jersey, and dream of winning the Super Bowl.
Win at all costs. Even if it means destroying team unity.
Terrell Owens knows this. He isn't in it for anyone else.
He just wants his.
I hope he gets it. Just not the way he envisions it.
