COLUMN: An open letter to T.O.
Dear Terrell Owens,
So you, unsuprisingly, have pulled a Peyton and blamed the Cowboys loss this weekend to the Eagles on everyone but yourself. ''I just feel like I'm not involved early in the game,'' you said. ''Everybody knows that's what I do. Every team that I've played on, I've been involved early and often. It's hard to get in the flow when you're getting a ball here, a ball there.''
Yes, Terrell, everybody knows what you do.
And that's run your big fat mouth until everyone just wants to scream, ruin the chemistry of every team you play for, and create so many problems in general that no matter how well you play, any head coach for any team will do just about anything to trade you away.
''Late in the game, they start throwing to me,'' you continued. ''By that time, it's too late. I'm giving full effort. I want to be involved. I don't think it's necessarily anything Tony and I need to talk about. He knows that I'm going to try my hardest to make some plays for him. When the plays aren't really designed for me to get involved in the offense, he's going to go with the plays that are called.''
Terrell, Terrell, Terrell. Just because you only had three catches, does not mean it wasn't thrown to you. There was the neat little over-the-shoulder interception by Brian Dawkins when the ball was thrown to you in the fourth quarter. Sure, you were in double coverage, but I assumed you -- a God amongst mere mortals -- could still make that play. You also let a perfect ball go through your hands in the third quarter, and tried to blame it on Brian Dawkins because he... was defending you?!
''He bumped me way down the field and I started to regroup. By the time I looked up and located the ball, it was right on me,'' you said.
But Terrell, you're the best receiver ever to play the game -- if we listen to you, anyways. What does it matter if some measly defender is all over you? I thought you made plays happen, if only the ball would come your way more often.
The truth is, Terrell, you haven't exactly had a jaw-dropping season with since being traded to the Cowboys. And really, it wouldn't matter if you did. We were all willing to give you a second chance, after the debacle that was your last season with the Eagles. We all thought to ourselves, ''Well, maybe it was just a fluke.'' You guaranteed that Eagles fans would hate you forever, but the rest of us were willing to see a kinder, gentler T.O. show up this seasn with the Cowboys.
Instead, we get the same old T.O., the one who spit on another player, the one who causes drama at every turn, and has an ego so big that the only person whose ego could possibly come close to rivaling it is Peyton Manning, who did something similar to what you did when the Colts lost in the playoffs last year.
Here's my advice to you, T.O. And I'm not going to sugarcoat it.
SHUT UP!!
No one cares how everyone is against you, or how misunderstood you are, or how you are the best thing to hit football since artificial turf. You're a good receiver, Terrell, but by no means are you the bad-*** you think you are. And if you don't stop this act, and soon, you'll have alienated the entire NFL and all of its' fans. Sure, after you ruin your career with the Cowboys the same way you ruined your career with the Eagles and the 49ers before that, there'll be another head coach who will be willing to take you on. But you'll just be traded away again.
Face it: you have a penchant for destroying the chemistry on a team.
So just do yourself a favor. Keep your thoughts to yourself. Don't go spouting your ill will in front of TV cameras in press conferences. If you want to vent or talk about your own greatness, do it in private, because frankly, we're all tired of hearing it. I'd work on overhauling that image of yours. Say some nice things about your teammates after a loss. Do some charity work. Try not to spit on anyone, or celebrate outrageously when you get a catch for 2 yards, and only celebrate when you, I don't know, score a touchdown.
You're a good receiver, T.O. But if you don't quit, then you can be the best receiver of all time and all you'll be remembered as is ''that loud-mouthed player who ruined every team he played for''. And I'm sure that you've got it somewhere in you to be better than that.
Sincerely,
Cassy
So you, unsuprisingly, have pulled a Peyton and blamed the Cowboys loss this weekend to the Eagles on everyone but yourself. ''I just feel like I'm not involved early in the game,'' you said. ''Everybody knows that's what I do. Every team that I've played on, I've been involved early and often. It's hard to get in the flow when you're getting a ball here, a ball there.''
Yes, Terrell, everybody knows what you do.
And that's run your big fat mouth until everyone just wants to scream, ruin the chemistry of every team you play for, and create so many problems in general that no matter how well you play, any head coach for any team will do just about anything to trade you away.
''Late in the game, they start throwing to me,'' you continued. ''By that time, it's too late. I'm giving full effort. I want to be involved. I don't think it's necessarily anything Tony and I need to talk about. He knows that I'm going to try my hardest to make some plays for him. When the plays aren't really designed for me to get involved in the offense, he's going to go with the plays that are called.''
Terrell, Terrell, Terrell. Just because you only had three catches, does not mean it wasn't thrown to you. There was the neat little over-the-shoulder interception by Brian Dawkins when the ball was thrown to you in the fourth quarter. Sure, you were in double coverage, but I assumed you -- a God amongst mere mortals -- could still make that play. You also let a perfect ball go through your hands in the third quarter, and tried to blame it on Brian Dawkins because he... was defending you?!
''He bumped me way down the field and I started to regroup. By the time I looked up and located the ball, it was right on me,'' you said.
But Terrell, you're the best receiver ever to play the game -- if we listen to you, anyways. What does it matter if some measly defender is all over you? I thought you made plays happen, if only the ball would come your way more often.
The truth is, Terrell, you haven't exactly had a jaw-dropping season with since being traded to the Cowboys. And really, it wouldn't matter if you did. We were all willing to give you a second chance, after the debacle that was your last season with the Eagles. We all thought to ourselves, ''Well, maybe it was just a fluke.'' You guaranteed that Eagles fans would hate you forever, but the rest of us were willing to see a kinder, gentler T.O. show up this seasn with the Cowboys.
Instead, we get the same old T.O., the one who spit on another player, the one who causes drama at every turn, and has an ego so big that the only person whose ego could possibly come close to rivaling it is Peyton Manning, who did something similar to what you did when the Colts lost in the playoffs last year.
Here's my advice to you, T.O. And I'm not going to sugarcoat it.
SHUT UP!!
No one cares how everyone is against you, or how misunderstood you are, or how you are the best thing to hit football since artificial turf. You're a good receiver, Terrell, but by no means are you the bad-*** you think you are. And if you don't stop this act, and soon, you'll have alienated the entire NFL and all of its' fans. Sure, after you ruin your career with the Cowboys the same way you ruined your career with the Eagles and the 49ers before that, there'll be another head coach who will be willing to take you on. But you'll just be traded away again.
Face it: you have a penchant for destroying the chemistry on a team.
So just do yourself a favor. Keep your thoughts to yourself. Don't go spouting your ill will in front of TV cameras in press conferences. If you want to vent or talk about your own greatness, do it in private, because frankly, we're all tired of hearing it. I'd work on overhauling that image of yours. Say some nice things about your teammates after a loss. Do some charity work. Try not to spit on anyone, or celebrate outrageously when you get a catch for 2 yards, and only celebrate when you, I don't know, score a touchdown.
You're a good receiver, T.O. But if you don't quit, then you can be the best receiver of all time and all you'll be remembered as is ''that loud-mouthed player who ruined every team he played for''. And I'm sure that you've got it somewhere in you to be better than that.
Sincerely,
Cassy