Terrell Owens: Take Your Frown and Go Home

After months of bickering and internal conflict, the Philadelphia Eagles did the unthinkable; they sent their superstar wide receiver Terrell Owens home. This is a case of team unity triumphing over individual agenda. Apparently, T.O.’s brilliant play on the field was not worth the headache he caused in the locker room.

In the beginning I could understand T.O.’s petition for a salary increase. After all, he was arguably the best person on the team, or perhaps a close second to quarterback Donavon McNabb, and he was getting paid considerably less than other team leaders. Furthermore, NFL football is one of those tricky sports where if you don’t get your money now, then you may not get it because there are no guaranteed contracts, i.e. if you get hurt, if you get old, if you get slower, then you could get fired, and there is no recourse for the players. From a financial standpoint, it makes lots of sense for a veteran player like T.O. to try to secure his financial well-being because in the NFL you never know how long a team will keep you around.

But T.O. took it to an extreme. Instead of just holding out the season like other players do, T.O. decided to return to the team and talk junk about his most popular teammate Donavon McNabb, his coach Andy Reid and the entire Eagles organization. This was a receipt for disaster. T.O. should’ve known that you can’t travel with the team and publicly trash them at the same time. That just doesn’t work. This situation just goes to show that everyone, even the best person on the team, can be replaced or dismissed, especially when he becomes a detriment.

This possibly could’ve turned out completely different if T.O. had kept quite after his training camp holdout, and allowed his on-the-field football genius be his biggest advocate as to why he should be given a mid-contract raise. Teams increase salaries mid-contract all the time, see Michael Vick and Bret Fauve, and even if he didn’t get an increase, he possibly could’ve signed with another team for an even larger salary and bonus. Now, I imagine he won’t be returning to the Eagles and he’ll be lucky if any team picks him up for the amount of money he wants because of all the baggage he brings.