Terrell Owens has to be the sorriest excuse of a human being that I've seen. His talents on the field are unfortunately negated by off-field antics and unfiltered mouth.

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/PHI/9025191

Eagles need to just chalk this season up. I mean at this point they are likely not going to make the playoffs. Their QB is injured and won't get better until he has surgery so even if they do by some chance make the playoffs how far do they think they can get. The TO situation is out of control....they need to get rid of him and invest in a power running back in the off season and another wide receiver.

The TO situation should come as a surprise to no one. This guy has been a cancer on every team. He's a selfish showboat and I'm glad the Eagles are cutting their losses. He's an ass.

The only thing remotely close to as bad as T.O.'s antics have been the continued defense/justifaction by ESPN's Michael Irvin. Memo to HOF voters: Please do not vote Irvin on the first ballot. Irvin, who like T.O., never understood the team comes before the individual - and still doesn't get it. T.O. is bad. But his "shill" Michael Irvin is equally as bad.

Heard a couple of things reported on the local news:

1) T.O. got into a fistfight with Hugh Douglas in the locker room (Hugh works as an "ambassador" for the team) on Wednesday after Douglas questioned the severity of T.O.'s ankle sprain

2) On Friday there was a players-only meeting and McNabb flat-out asked T.O. once and for all "Are you with me or are you against me?" T.O. did not reply.

No one could be surprised by either TO's actions or the Eagles' response. What is surprising is the deafening silence from Owen's agent, Drew Rosenhaus. He's usually out front, spinning any negative as best he can.

~Adam

Maybe sleazy Drew must be wondering what he got himself into. He probably figured T.O. would get a big payday from a renegotiatied deal and that would result in a big payday for him. But what team is going to offer huge money to T.O. now? Between injuries and personality issues, he's a huge risk.

Meanwhile...some details on the fight:

CBS reports that Owens will be paid for tonight's game because the Eagles' suspension was filed after Saturday's 4 p.m. deadline.

Due to some league technicality, TO will still be paid for "playing" this week (whew! I was so worried ).

Once golden goose TO has his tubes tied by the Eagles, Mr. Pursestrings Rosenhaus will start holding "human rights" press conferences on behalf of his client.

CU: Yeah, I saw that:

Steve Young: If you were TO right now, would you apologize?

Michael Irvine: Well, I would never put myself in that position to begin with, so it really doesn't matter...

SY: Yes, BUT IF YOU WERE in TO's position, would you...?

MI, squirming: I would never put myself in that position to begin with, so there's really no need to..."

Just lame. Irvin should enter politics.

I've always wondered if it was Rosenhaus whispering in Terrell Owens' ear that caused him to go crazy with the contract demands, or if it was Terrell acting alone without any outside influences, with Rosenhaus dilligently working to fulfill the wishes of his client. Or is it more of a two-way free flowing dynamic?

I don't know much about pro football or how agents operate within that environment, so I wouldn't mind a little schoolin' here. This just seems crazy.

[ November 06, 2005, 02:59 PM: Message edited by: Neptune ]

What really surprises me is that the Eagles don't seem to learn. They knew what he was like before he even joined the team, and they saw his nonsense at the beginning of the season. What makes them, or anyone, believe this jerk will ever be a team player?

As for Ownes being influenced by Rosenhaus, Owens was a self-centered loon before he hooked up with Rosenhaus. This was going to happen regardless of who his agent is.

Who?

It's not a matter of believing he'd be a team player. It's a matter of taking a chance that they can work around whatever difficulty he would cause in order to make the team better. And, FYI, it worked last year. Right now it's backfired.

However, it might even behoove the Eagles even now to try and keep him for the rest of the season. Considering how the defense and special teams are increasingly unreliable, the more offensive weapons they have, the better.

Does anyone outside of Philly really care about the T.O. saga?

I lost the little respect I had for him when he held out for a better contract at the beginning of the season.

Say what you will but the T.O. distraction that began before the season started has ruined what should have been a Super Bowl appearence (and ultimately another loss, but still - was there another team as strong as the Eagles in the NFC?). The Eagles need to look no further then at themselves for bringing this cancer to their organization. T.O. showed all these same selfish characteristics in San Fran...

I'm sure Baltimore's releived they did not end up with him.

Have you been to any of the major sports websites? Pretty much front page news all across the country. If the stories aren't getting the hits, they replace the headlines with something that has more consumer demand. I guess the bigger question is - Have you been to any of the major sports websites? You know, that's a place where you can get a bit of objectivity.

What have you gone mad? TO is gone, he will not (and better not) put on that Eagle Jersey EVER again… hasta… see ya… good luck.

My complaint is that they did not do this sooner, and waited this long to dump him.

Ever since he decided he was worth QB money, he has tried to destroy the team in order to accomplish this goal. TO wants God himself (not gibbs) throwing the ball to him… always to him. None to anyone else. It does not matter if you are Garthiasssssss, Dmac, Manning, Vick or any other QB out there, it will not be enough. Given all of this, the QB can never get more press or be better than him.

It was already stated, TO is on a superbowl caliber team, not just a winning team. A team with a chance to win a championship. He was willing to throw that away. He is willing to destroy the team to get what he wants. This situation is bizarre because of that. What athlete has ever done something like this?

No team in the league (even if they thought he was crazy) would have guessed he dropped to this level to get what he wants.

TO bags on his teammates, the organization, his contract… whatever.. then says that he loves us, the fans? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? We are the ones this man is insulting. We are the ones who have to suffer because he thinks he needs to destroy a team to get what he wants. We are the ones who are insulted when he wears his “throw back” jerseys of the most hated team in the city.

So forgive me while I say, thanks for the one year you crazy bastard… don’t let the door hit you on the way out. No one will pay you anything now… no one. Well, maybe the Texans…

If you want to point fingers this year, go talk to Lito and ask him why he’s getting burned, and when he’s not he’s getting PI calls against him. Lewis is also having a tough year and not being in position. You fix those two problems and the Defense is good.

Dmac has to stop making stupid decision (taking points off the board).

Reid needs to have Moats practicing on special teams every week and work him into being the returner.

More than all of this, they did play as a team last night after being put in a tough place. They now have a full week to prepare for life without TO and moving on without TO… This team has won with less in the past.

If they bring TO back, they will wind up pissing off the rest of the team.

As so many people have said, it takes a team to win the game. One person will not be able to get everything done against an opposing team.

I say good riddance to rubbish!

The question now is... What team will Owens be lining up for next year? After this year's antics, is there any team dumb enough (cough, Raiders) to sign this guy?

The San Quentin Raiders will definitely sign him. They need to find anyway possible to sell out that stadium especially after they abandoned the failed PSL experiment, saddling Oakland taxpayers with millions of dollars of stadium debt.

Eagles just announced T.O. will not return to the team.

From philly.com:


Owens' days as an Eagle are over
By Jeff McLane
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Wide receiver Terrell Owens will not play for the Eagles again this season, head coach Andy Reid announced today during his day-after-the game news conference.

Reid didn't specifically say it, but it is expected that Owens will never wear the Eagles Number 81 again.

Owens has been suspended for four games - starting with yesterday's 17-10 loss to the Washington Redskins - for conduct detrimental to the team, Reid said. The four games are the maximum amount of time that a player can be suspended for such conduct, according to NFL rules.

After Owens serves his four games, he will not play for the team for the remainder of this year, Reid said. Owens is in the second year of a seven-year deal.

Owens' pay will be docked during the suspension, but he will receive almost $1 million of his salary for the final four games of the season.

The National Football League has been notified by the players' union that they will file a grievance on behalf of Owens for this disciplinary action. Reid wouldn't answer questions directly related to the Owens situation partly because of that pending grievance.

Owens was in his Moorestown home this afternoon, but did not emerge to speak to reporters outside.

"We have no comment at this time," said Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, who was with him at his house.

"I do want to be clear," Reid told reporters, "that this decision was a result of a large number of situations that accumulated over a long period of time in which Terrell had been warned repeatedly about the consequences of his actions.

"Even with the activities that took place last week, we gave Terrell every opportunity to avoid this outcome."

[ November 07, 2005, 03:04 PM: Message edited by: scottie ]

Thanks for the good news Scottie.

Wow. I just saw this on CNN. Looks like a really large lesson will be learned here.

Um, if the Raiders signed him, then we may very see the first game ever where two WRs get into a fist fight ON the field, mid-game. You can't put Moss and Owens together, that's mixing acids and bases. Or, more appropriatly it's mixing a Jerk with a Fool. It leads to disaster.

The lesson is simple: Don't be a raging a--hole. Had TO exhibited the barest measure of civility towards his teammates there wouldn't be a problem. But it is apparent that the only football he would ever be happy playing would involve TO the QB throwing to TO the WR on every play.

As for who will pick him up? Maybe some team desperate for a one-season wonder, since we know TO will wear out his welcome after that.

Just curious, does all of TO's teammates kiss his ass the way Freddie Mitchell just did on that ESPN interview??

heh, that would be FORMER teammate, since Mitchell was kicked to curb a few months ago.

ESPN has the full interview posted.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...ge=to/unplugged

In looking at the full context of the interview, TO does have some complaints about what was taken from his comments. However, since TO refused to speak to the media in philly this year. When you pin your hopes on people looking for ratings…

That said, just leads you to wonder what type of antics he’s been up to behind closed doors. You don’t go from not on the injury report, to doubtful for two games, to being just about full speed. Injury reports don’t work that way.

Has any athlete thrown away more, ever? After the Superbowl, Owens OWNED that city. He was uncuttable, if he does not go crazy.

Let me repeat this again, he OWNED the city. More so than any athlete to come along in the last 20 years, perhaps even longer.

In reviewing his interview, TO was wrong about something. The Eagles don’t cut older players, they have left via free agency. That is…. Until today….

I hope this piece of garbage gets nothing but a one year deal to play someone, and I’ll chip in to pay the fine if he plays against this team when they “lead with helmet”….

[ November 07, 2005, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]

I'm speaking strictly from a talent viewpoint. Losing T.O. is a major hit in the talent level. Now they have to overcome it, even if they do so as a re-unified team.

This news may be enough to make me change my name back to George_Eaglesfan! Now I hope that TO has some sort of accident that leaves him unable to ever play football again. Douche bag!

Just out of curiosity...when TO is inducted into the Hall of Fame - will he be inducted as an Eagle? :confused: eek!

I wonder how ong it will take for him to get into the Hall. It is possible he may not make it at all. There are enough voters who know how to carry a grudge.

Agreed! Besides the self-centred Randy Moss, the Raiders also have the obnoxious Warren Sapp and homophobic bully Ted Washington.

T.O. just doesn't get it. Football is a TEAM sport, it's not all about him. I just read elsewhere that coach Andy Reid has said Owens will not be returning to the Eagles following his four-game suspension. No surprise there.

[ November 07, 2005, 03:44 PM: Message edited by: Marc ]

The T.O. story is the subject of Outside The Lines on ESPN (scheduled for 1:40 am ET, 10:40 pm PT). I bring this up because of the two guests: WIP radio's Rhea Hughes -- who visited us at Outsports Convention II last year -- and none other than...Freddie Mitchell. eek!

Man Michael Irvin sounds even dumber the past couple of days defending TO than he usually does. And that is really dumb. Is TO paying him? I realize it makes good TV to have an opposing POV, but at least find someone for whom English is not a foreign language. I have an easier time understanding Jesse Jackson.

I am shocked that ESPN has allowed Irvin to carry on this charade as long as they have. And then there's Michael's "How to win at point/counter-point by talking over the person you are debating". The way he treated Ditka tonight... had they been in the same studio, Ditka would have decked him.

He did the same thing today to Dan Patrick on Patrick's radio show. He wouldn't shut up and as soon as Patrick tried to talk, he accused Patrick of not letting him talk.

I enjoy Irvin on ESPN, however, when this whole thing went down… he now has no opinion?

ESPN and a few over there (Irvin) had TO’s ear and he was the only people TO talked to…along with Smiff…. Irvin leaves him out to dry? He can’t say he thought he was misquoted? What Irvin did was let down TO, much as TO does nothing but sell out his people. (I only saw the countdown debate, no others)

From what I saw today, seems a big rumor is that Denver will offer an incentive laden contract for one year. Drew better tell his boy that is all he’s going to get based on his behavior.

God (Gibbs) must be hiding under his bed right now. Danny boy must be licking his chops to sign a big named WR like TO…

[ November 07, 2005, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]

Sometimes a team has to take a step back in order to go forward. I am relieved this T.O. saga is over. The Eagles may not be as good in the short term without T.O. but in the long run I believe will be better. Hopefully next season they will find another receiver to sign without the attitude. BTW the four game suspension will cost T.O. over 800,000 so at least he won't profit from sitting out.

Will anyone help me arrange a bonfire we can all attend so I can burn my T.O. jersey?

Instead of burning it, you should go over and knock on his door then hand it to him and ask for a refund. The D***f*** owes you and all Eagles fans that much.

I am some what in TO's corner on this. I realize that I'm pretty much by myself (other than Irvin).

If you read the full interview I don't think McNabb should be able to take offense to anything that was said. No more than TO taking offense to what McNabb said before the superbowl last year.

It's NOT about being a team player?

Funny, I thought football was a team sport. And why should any team have to plan on "working around whatever difficulty he would cause?" That's backwards. The onus isn't on the team to put up with his bull$hit, the onus is on him to work with the team, ya think?

And I don't think it "worked" last year, he just wasn't as much of an s$$hole last year as he was this year. No team should have to "work around" any such player.

What crap.


Try again.

You, Irvin, and Stephen A. Smith.

From the ESPN interview:

GB: I've always wanted to hear this from TO. Your theory of "If you got it, flaunt it."
TO: It's basically just being confident in who you are. It's like if you and I were in a contest or we were going out to the beach, you would probably be reluctant to take your shirt off. Right, but in my case, I work out, I feel like I have a nice body, then I wouldn't have a problem taking my shirt off. I have a number of friends who tell me if they had my body they would probably walk around naked. So that's basically where that comes from. You just got to be confident in who you are, and don't let anybody say or tell you anything different.
_____________________________________

I wonder if it is his straight male friends who tell him that? Or maybe his straight female friends? Or his gay female friends?

No, no, a thousand times no. This is the first competitive season the Skins have had in so long, they're finally getting guys to play together, and play better than the sum of their parts, classic Gibbs results. Do not poison that well by putting in a unreformed "star", or wait "superstar", or wait "underpaid, misquoted superstar", or wait "underpaid, unappreciated, misquoted SUPERSTAR". Give me an hour, I'm sure I'll get it right. No matter, the only way Danny should pay for TO is to pay another team to take him (Pokes, Nats, Iggles again).

LOL, amen Good Hands. wink

But didn't you realize? ... It's not about TO having to make an effort to be a team player, it's all about the team having to "work around all the difficulties he can cause." Why yes! Of course, teams work around individuals, yup, that's how it's done! wink

The final chapter of the 2005 Eagles has been completed. Dmac should also throw the towel in and have hernia surgery. Stick a fork in them they are done.

I've seen this coming with this Eagles team since T.O. did his sit ups in his driveway in the pre-season.

The bigger question is has the window of opportunity been slammed for the Eagles to win a Super Bowl? Will they be remembered as the Buffalo Bills of this decade?

Is it Altanta's turn to represent the NFC South at the big dance? Who ever represents the NFC loses to the AFC team - again.

If anyone knows about the fork, check out Raymond James stadium.

I don't know if you're naive or what, but wake up. Teamwork and good sportsmanship and such are nice, but the goal of most teams is to WIN. If they think they need a certain player's talent in order to win, they will give that player at least one chance no matter what personality issues he has. Randy Moss was proven to be a jackass long before he was drafted and continues to be so in his NFL career. It didn't stop Minnesota from drafting him and it didn't stop Oakland from getting him in a trade. There are baseball players (Steve Howe, Daryl Strawberry, etc.) who got multiple chances despite being caught multiple times getting arrested, testing positive for drugs, etc. There are all kinds of players in all kinds of sports who have been given chance after chance despite arrests and even convictions for drugs, assaults, sexual abuse, spousal abuse, etc.

When you have a lot of talent, teams will take a chance if they're desperate enough. If you don't know that, then as I said, I don't know if you're naive or what.

How does this apply to the Eagles? Let's review. For 3 consecutive years they got to the NFC title game but lost. Much of the blame was due in part to an inconsistent offense, and in particular to a wide receiver corps that was sorely lacking. They finally rolled the dice and acquired T.O. and besides his own performance, he opened things up for others. Todd Pinkston actually became valuable. As a result, in the regular season they destroyed the NFC to the extent that not only did they win the NFC East by SEVEN GAMES, but in the last two games they didn't even bother playing their regulars in order to try and avoid injury -- in effect, they lost their last two games on purpose and STILL finished with the best NFC record and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. It gave them such a swagger that, even with T.O. hurt, they rolled through the playoffs and finally went to the Super Bowl.

So, even considering that they didn't win the Super Bowl (which, seeing as how the Patriots won 3 out of 4, would've been a monumentally difficult accomplishment for any team), how exactly did their taking a chance on T.O. not "work"?

No amount of talent is worth this much frustration. None. Having someone be only barely tolerable for just a single season is hardly a success. Good luck trying to convince any of us that TO was even remotely the jerk last season that he was this season. Don't get me wrong, he was quite the a$$shole last season too, but not even on the same scale as what he was this season.

Great teams are built over time. Your offense will gel in more than one season. If you have a variable with a shelf-life of just one season, and are counting strongly on that variable, you've already lost. "Putting up" with off-field extra curricular activites is one thing (and if you ask me, shouldn't be tolerated either) when it doesn't affect the team. I don't think sexual abuse or drug abuse or gambling, or anything else illegal should be ignored, at all. They need to be addressed too, legally and with team policy. They're quite different, though, than trashing your own team, your own quarterback, your own organization (in other words, the hands that feed you), picking fights in the locker room, whining publicly for more money and for recognition of a count of touchdowns , etc... When EVERYTHING off the field AND on is nothing but negative action and reaction that affects the very sense of teamwork due to a single player (ANY player) ... well, you've already lost. I'm sure many people would say it "worked" if they had won the Superbowl last year, since that's the goal. But we can only imagine how much more of an a$$hole TO would have been at the beginning of this season if they had. Some recipe for "success", huh?

Reporter Michael Smith is on Cold Pizza saying that he has a source who says Drew Rosenhaus is looking into dumping TO as a client.