T.O. has a friend in Jerry Jones. (Getty Images) |
Here's how the last two weeks have gone for Terrell Owens: he was released by the IFL's Allen Wrangler's for, among other things, lack of effort. T.O. reportedly considered legal action, and while we wait for that subplot to play out, Wranglers general manager and former Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson explained that it wasn't Owens' on-field skills that were keeping him out of the NFL, just everything else.
“It's not what happens between the lines with Terrell," Pearson said earlier this month. "It's how he handles things outside the lines, being Terrell Owens, dealing with the fans, being a good teammate."
Then last week, Owens dropped longtime agent Drew Rosenhaus in favor of Jordan Woy, who represents several Cowboys players. Dallas has needs at wide receiver, but it's not yet to the point where T.O. has entered the conversation as a viable option. Still, owner Jerry Jones was asked Tuesday about Owens and, specifically, any advice he'd have for the 38-year-old who played 15 NFL seasons with five teams.
"First of all, he really can reach out to me at anytime because I consider him a friend," Jones said, according to Josh Ellis of DallasCowboys.com. "I would feel good if he reached out. I think that he really, without having first-hand knowledge of what kind of physical condition he's in, I know he's got the right stuff and he could help someone, because I've actually looked at some of the things that he did last year, and he's got the athletic ability to be quite a threat as a receiver. So, I would advise him, if he's still got the heart, and he does, to continue to try to get on an NFL team."
Owens hasn't hidden the fact that his ultimate goal it to play again in the NFL. But as Pearson previously pointed out, the issue isn't physical, it's psychological. Even if, you know, Owens insists that the countless stories about him being a locker-room distraction are exaggerations.
"If you ask a bunch of my teammates, a lot of it is basically blown out of proportion, the media making me into a fall guy," he said in February. "Overall, will I ever admit that I was a bad teammate? Never. I wasn't a bad teammate. Was I disruptive. No, I wasn't disruptive."
And it's those denials -- and T.O.'s refusal (inability?) to change -- that is partly responsible for his current predicament.
“I cannot say why I'm not on a team other than that I can tell you about what I will give your team every Sunday," Owens said in early April. "I have always earned my place on a team. I don't mind coming in playing for the minimum and working my way up."
If the Dolphins -- an outfit that just signed Chad Ochocinco after a 15-catch season in New England and featured Brian Hartline and Davone Bess as their starting wideouts as recently as Monday -- aren't interested, then it's reasonable to assume that Owens has played his last NFL game.
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