Woe is us,Mike, we got T.O. hell now, i knew the moment Drew Rosenhaus sold himself to be Terrell Owen's agent, this was going to become a mess.
I can see it now, Drew; "Who is the best wide receiver in football, Terrell?? " ME of course" Drew "Absolutely Terrell you are hands down the greatest but it is sad to see the Eagles certainly don't think so, they are paying you cheap, that is an insult T.O." T.O. " Where do i stand with other receivers? Drew " Look at this read out i have prepared for you of what other receivers are getting paid better than you." T.O "O my gawd they must think i am a slave, my gawd, i think i am going to cry" Drew "No, no, don't cry now, keep that for when i schedule you to be on CNBC"
Drew:" And what you did for them to make a heroic effort to get back for the SuperBowl game and only to see it lost because Mr.Chunky Soup was sucking wind at the end of the game; and their response to my asking you be rewarded was 'go away'."
T.O. " Drew i want that money, i am the best, i must be have this approval i am the best or my ego might be so hurt i will suck my thumb and jump off the Golden State Bridge. And yeh McNabb he was sucking wind , i am going closen my friendship with Donovan by pointing that out on ESPN""
Drew "Good,Terrell, we need a good controversy so they will have to trade you the Redfskins--Snyder where Snyder is prepared to offer you the State Maryland. So don't worry, Drew is here, the greatest agent in history, we got it made"
T.O. in aside "Only the State of Maryland? gees"
<Phil Sheridan | Owens fumbles in dash for cash
By Phil Sheridan, Inquirer Columnist
Karma isn't usually this efficient. Normally, it takes a lot longer than a couple of days for what goes around to come around.
But there was Terrell Owens, wiping tears from his eyes on a CNBC program called The Big Idea With Donny Deutsch, as he discussed his contract situation. Just like that, the guy who humiliated his quarterback, Donovan McNabb, as the "guy who got tired in the Super Bowl," became the guy who wept about his contract on national TV.
Somewhere, Jeff Garcia has to be laughing.
The Eagles haven't had to waste their energy squabbling with Owens in the court of public opinion.
All they have had to do is let Owens and his new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, do the talking. The more they have said, the weaker their case for a new contract has become. By the time Owens announced last night that he wasn't talking to reporters about his contract anymore, his case was beyond repair.
Let's recap, just for fun.
Earlier this week, Owens took the gratuitous little swipe at McNabb in an interview with ESPN.com writer Len Pasquarelli. When The Inquirer's Stephen A. Smith asked Owens about that later in the week, Owens replied: "I said what I said because, obviously, somebody in the organization is leaking stuff to make me look bad, to turn the city against me."
Examine that logic. Because he believes someone with the Eagles - presumably head coach Andy Reid or team president Joe Banner - leaked unflattering information about him, Owens took a shot at McNabb.
Maybe this makes sense on the planet where T.O. is constantly being misunderstood and undervalued and persecuted by unseen forces. Down here on planet Earth, however, it holds no water.
You want more money? Fine. Everybody wants more money.
You don't like the contract you signed 13 months ago? Whatever.
You start fragging the quarterback and leader of the team? No. Sorry. Now you've crossed the line.
Players understand when teammates hold out for more money. The distraction created by such a thing looms larger in the minds of reporters than the minds of players. A couple of years ago, Duce Staley held out of training camp. It seemed like a big deal at the time. Somehow, the republic survived.
But creating a rift with your quarterback is a big deal. That is a distraction. Never mind the fact that Owens' criticism was patently unfair.
McNabb made mistakes in the Super Bowl, but anyone who questions his effort or heart is way out of line. By dismissing everything that happened in Jacksonville as McNabb's getting "tired," Owens reinforces the most simple-minded view of events.
McNabb wasn't too "tired" to throw a perfect touchdown pass on the drive in question. Do you think T.O. noticed that it was Greg Lewis who caught it?
Owens also seems to forget that every one of the 77 passes he caught in the regular season, 14 of them for touchdowns, started in McNabb's right hand. The very numbers he's using to justify his bid for a new deal were made possible by the quarterback he has publicly disrespected.
That's what made his teary appearance on CNBC so perfect, karma-wise.
Owens became emotional while talking about his grandmother, who raised him and now suffers from Alzheimer's disease. When he continued talking about his contract situation and the firing of his agents, the tears were still rolling down his cheeks.
The clip played endlessly on ESPN and other outlets showed only the tears and the contract talk. The earlier stuff about his grandmother disappeared, leaving an extremely unflattering impression.
Here, literally, was a millionaire athlete crying about his contract.
Fair? It was exactly as fair as calling McNabb the "guy who got tired in the Super Bowl."
What goes around came around.
Meanwhile, Rosenhaus has been on TV every night saying Eagles fans should support Owens because anyone who feels underpaid by his or her boss would do the same thing. By trying to reach out to the average person, Rosenhaus has succeeded only in showing how out of touch he is.
The average fan didn't bank $9 million last year.
In the interview with Smith, Owens stressed that he isn't "greedy" or "selfish." He simply wants more money, and he's willing to insult his best teammate and fire his close friend and agent to get it.
It's hard to imagine how anyone could interpret that as greedy or selfish.
The worst thing is that Owens is indeed a man who came from real hardship and poverty. He is a great player who helped make last year one of the best and most memorable in Eagles history. He had the fans here in his back pocket. Now he is working overtime to spoil all that, meanwhile looking like the most out of touch of greedy athletes.
It's enough to make a grown man cry.
Phil Sheridan |
Online Extra
Sports columnist Skip Bayless covered Terrell Owens for three years while Owens played for the 49ers. Read his take on the current contract flap:
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