jbisset
03-07-2009, 08:30 PM
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9299080/In-defense-of-Terrell-Owens?MSNHPHMA
It is, some say, the bedrock of a free society.
Everyone is entitled to having a vigorous defense mounted on his behalf.
So today I don my powdered wig and, like John Adams representing the British troops after the Boston Massacre, defend the indefensible.
My client: Terrell Owens. (I will be representing all of his multiple personalities and, no, he will not be taking the stand in his own defense. God, no.)
Exhibit A: Just Win, Baby
If one thing has been borne out during Owens's tumultuous career it's that the teams he alienates were better off while he was alienating them than they were without him.
While Owens was with the Niners they had five 10-win seasons in eight years. But a record-setting 20-reception game and an impossible playoff-game-winning TD catch hardly mattered when the organization decided it didn't need someone in the locker room questioning the sexual orientation of the Pro Bowl quarterback. In the five years since T.O. left (it must feel like 15 to San Francisco fans), the Niners have gone 25-55 (.313) with zero 10-win seasons.
In Owens's first season in Philadelphia the Eagles went 13-3 in 2004, the highest win total of Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb's eternal bridesmaid careers. The Eagles were 13-1 when Owens broke his leg — courtesy of a Roy Williams horse collar — in Week 15. They lost their last two regular-season games without him.
Owens made a medically miraculous return for Super Bowl XXXIX and finished with nine catches for 122 yards. The Patriots' only answer for him was McNabb's inexplicable decision to look elsewhere. It sure looked like Owens could have replicated his 20-catch performance because almost every time McNabb threw to him he was wide open. But it wasn't often enough to avoid a 24-21 defeat.
Despite a tempestuous training camp in 2005 that featured T.O. screaming "don't talk to me unless I talk to you" at offensive coordinator Brad Childress, Owens was his old dominant self when the season opened. He piled up 763 yards and six TDs in seven weeks before things got so bad Reid suspended him. (Ironically, the 109 receiving yards-per-game Owens averaged in his truncated '05 season is a career high.) When Owens was told to stay home the Eagles were 4-3. After his suspension they went 2-7.
So during T.O.'s tenure in Philly the Eagles went 17-4 when he played and 2-9 when he didn't. Upon his departure, the Eagles have settled back into a semi-underachieving rut, going 10-6, 8-8 and 9-6-1 without a big-play receiver. Before he signs an extension, McNabb would like to see the Eagles add a legit stud No. 1 receiver. Yeah, the game sure is easier when you have one of those, isn't it?
Unlike most marriages, the relationship between player and team is not about happiness and fulfillment. It's about wins and losses. Better to go 11-5 with a guy who makes you miserable than 8-8 without him.
The Cowboys wanted to be rid of T.O. and now they are. Another NFC East team lost a problem-child, big-play, double-team-demanding wide receiver last season. Ask the Giants how things worked out for them without Plaxico Burress.
It is, some say, the bedrock of a free society.
Everyone is entitled to having a vigorous defense mounted on his behalf.
So today I don my powdered wig and, like John Adams representing the British troops after the Boston Massacre, defend the indefensible.
My client: Terrell Owens. (I will be representing all of his multiple personalities and, no, he will not be taking the stand in his own defense. God, no.)
Exhibit A: Just Win, Baby
If one thing has been borne out during Owens's tumultuous career it's that the teams he alienates were better off while he was alienating them than they were without him.
While Owens was with the Niners they had five 10-win seasons in eight years. But a record-setting 20-reception game and an impossible playoff-game-winning TD catch hardly mattered when the organization decided it didn't need someone in the locker room questioning the sexual orientation of the Pro Bowl quarterback. In the five years since T.O. left (it must feel like 15 to San Francisco fans), the Niners have gone 25-55 (.313) with zero 10-win seasons.
In Owens's first season in Philadelphia the Eagles went 13-3 in 2004, the highest win total of Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb's eternal bridesmaid careers. The Eagles were 13-1 when Owens broke his leg — courtesy of a Roy Williams horse collar — in Week 15. They lost their last two regular-season games without him.
Owens made a medically miraculous return for Super Bowl XXXIX and finished with nine catches for 122 yards. The Patriots' only answer for him was McNabb's inexplicable decision to look elsewhere. It sure looked like Owens could have replicated his 20-catch performance because almost every time McNabb threw to him he was wide open. But it wasn't often enough to avoid a 24-21 defeat.
Despite a tempestuous training camp in 2005 that featured T.O. screaming "don't talk to me unless I talk to you" at offensive coordinator Brad Childress, Owens was his old dominant self when the season opened. He piled up 763 yards and six TDs in seven weeks before things got so bad Reid suspended him. (Ironically, the 109 receiving yards-per-game Owens averaged in his truncated '05 season is a career high.) When Owens was told to stay home the Eagles were 4-3. After his suspension they went 2-7.
So during T.O.'s tenure in Philly the Eagles went 17-4 when he played and 2-9 when he didn't. Upon his departure, the Eagles have settled back into a semi-underachieving rut, going 10-6, 8-8 and 9-6-1 without a big-play receiver. Before he signs an extension, McNabb would like to see the Eagles add a legit stud No. 1 receiver. Yeah, the game sure is easier when you have one of those, isn't it?
Unlike most marriages, the relationship between player and team is not about happiness and fulfillment. It's about wins and losses. Better to go 11-5 with a guy who makes you miserable than 8-8 without him.
The Cowboys wanted to be rid of T.O. and now they are. Another NFC East team lost a problem-child, big-play, double-team-demanding wide receiver last season. Ask the Giants how things worked out for them without Plaxico Burress.