Eagles suspend T.O. indefinitely for comments
T.O.’s mouth gets him in trouble again
The Eagles decided yesterday that Terrell Owens had finally gone too far
T.O. agrees: Eagles would be unbeaten with Favre
That right there just shows you the type of class and integrity that they claim not to be. They claim to be first class and the best organization. It’s an embarrassment. It just shows a lack of class they have. My publicist talked to the head PR guy, and they made an excuse they didn’t recognize that was coming up. But that was a blatant lie. Had it been somebody else, they probably would have popped fireworks around the stadium.
- Terrell Owens, confirmed DUMB@$$
I’ll be shocked if we ever see Terrell Owens in an Eagles uniform again. He’s going to have to be traded because he’s completely burned the bridge with this team and his teammates.
- Merrill Hoge, ESPN analyst
Philadelphia Eagles WR (and former DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener- #250, 5.16.05) has met his worst enemy…and it’s his own ego, which apparently is hard-wired directly to his mouth, bypassing his brain. The one thing that Owens and his hyperactive ego seems unable to grasp is that football is a team sport. Nothing happens independently of your ten teammates, whether good or bad. No matter how fabulously talented you are, and Owens certainly is, you’re not going to win a game on the talent of one individual. Owens’ inability to recognize and accept this reality will likely cost him a spot on Philadelphia’s roster. And it’s about damn time….
As a former quarterback, I can tell you that the one thing you do NOT want to do is to piss off the one player on the field most responsible for getting the ball to you. Not that Donovan McNabb would deliberately look elsewhere to throw the ball, but could you blame him if that were to happen? How much high-octane, mean-spirited egotism should the Eagles’ leader be expected to endure? How would you be feeling if you were playing injured and your star wide receiver says the team would be undefeated if only Brett Favre was under center? Even after that, you have to endure Owens’ unapologetic apology:
“I’ve had the opportunity to talk with the Eagles organization, and I have learned the team does not recognize individual achievements,” he said in a flat voice. “It has been brought to my attention that I have offended the organization and my teammates. Therefore, I would like to apologize for any derogatory comments toward them.”
It would seem that it’s finally beginning to dawn on Eagles Coach Andy Reid and Eagles management that they might just be better off without the 24/7/365 distraction that is Terrell Owens. When one players attracts more attention that the other 52 players combined, it might be time to admit that you’ver got a problem on your hands. T.O. might be a football writer’s wet dream, but he’s destroying the Philadelphia Eagles from within.
Terrell Owens was suspended by the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday for conduct detrimental to the team, a catch-all sanction that team officials imposed after deliberating much of Friday over how to address the latest flap involving their loquacious wide receiver.
Owens, who blasted the organization on Thursday for not publicly recognizing his 100th career touchdown catch two weeks ago, will miss the Eagles’ key Sunday night game against the Washington Redskins.
It is uncertain when — or if — he will return to the team.
Under terms of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, a player can be suspended for a maximum of four games for conduct detrimental to his team. It remained unclear if the Eagles have fined Owens; a team source declined to address any financial element of the disciplinary action. A fine would cost Owens $191,176 for every game he misses, based on his salary of $3.25 million for this season….
Critical of quarterback Donovan McNabb and the organization during an interview Thursday with ESPN.com, Owens issued a private apology Friday to teammates, followed by a public apology in which he read a terse statement. One team source said Saturday, though, that Owens’ apologies failed to fully comply with all of the conditions that team officials, including coach Andy Reid, had stipulated.
Even after his apology, team officials told ESPN.com on Friday afternoon and reiterated later in the evening that the situation with Owens was still under review and hinted that a suspension remained a possibility. Said one team official at the time: “All options remain on the table.”
I’m not an Eagles fan. Far from it. Still, I’ll make it very simple for all y’all who are: Philadelphia needs to show T.O. the door- now. No matter how fabulously talented T.O. is, and he is arguably one of the best receivers to ever play the game, in football NO ONE is bigger than the team. Owens clearly either cannot or will not come to grips with that simple truth, and for that reason and that reason alone he needs to go the way of the buffalo.
Eagles players and fans deserve to be able to focus on what is happening on the football field, instead of being wrapped up in what is coming out of T. O.’ mouth. It’s time to excise this cancer. Of course, some other NFL team will sign Owens, thinking they’ll be able to succeed where the Eagles “failed”. If there were any justice, though, Owens would end up fielding punts for the Bucharest Despots of the Romanian Football League for $35 a game and all the borscht he can eat. It’s more than he deserves, but hey, a man’s gotta eat, right?
