Terrell Owens should have had a better excuse for blowing off his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
You know, like maybe he was going bowling.
That, at least, might have been understood in the tiny universe of T.O., the one the former wide receiver lives in and no one else seems to be able to penetrate. Owens was so into bowling after his football career was over that he tried to go pro, only to be undone by slippery lane conditions.
Owens was a lot more successful in football, where his numbers were so good he arguably – and Owens argues this the most – should have been inducted in Canton in his first year of eligibility. It wasn’t until his third year that he was voted in, part of a class that included Jerry Kramer, Ray Lewis and fellow wide receiver Randy Moss.
They were all there, slipping on the gold jackets for the first time that signify they’re the best of the best.
Owens probably got his in the mail.
That’s entirely on T.O., and it’s not entirely surprising. His great numbers always came with great problems, and he’s never been one to forget a slight, perceived or otherwise.
That’s why he’s still engaged in a mostly one-way fued with Donovan McNabb, 13 years after the Philadelphia Eagles lost the 2005 Super Bowl to New England, and Owens famously said he “wasn’t the guy who got tired” in the game.
It’s also why he spent the day he should’ve been getting his gold jacket at a ceremony of his own at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he went to college.
Hard to say exactly, but it seems T.O. is not happy with the way the media covered him over his 15-year career. He believes he got a bad rap as a bad teammate and didn’t get the credit for the things he did on the field for his teams.
And he’s really not happy with being skipped over two years before finally being voted into the hall.
Just T.O. being T.O., a familiar scene to anyone who followed his career. Now Owens can claim a first that may hold for a long time – the only living player of the 318 elected to the Hall of Fame who refused to attend his own induction.
Now, Owens may not have been there to get his jacket, but he’s still a Hall of Famer. There will be a T.O. bust, and provisions were made to send him a jacket.
But he wasn’t inducted individually like the others in his class in what should have been one of the greatest moments of his life.
His call, yes. But if Owens was trying to make a point, it probably got lost in the fuss being made over those that were actually in Canton for their inductions.
Then again, this is a player who held a bizarre press conference while working out in his driveway after being suspended for arguing with Eagles coach Andy Reid prior to the 2005 season. Shirtless and doing sit-ups, Owens mostly answered with “no comment” before tired writers asked him if he was trying to set a record for offering no comment.
His response? “No comment.”
Wide receivers tend to be a strange breed, even if Owens took it to a new level. Moss, after all, once famously walked off the field with two seconds left in a game and his Minnesota Vikings lined up for an onside kick attempt.
Moss was in Canton on Saturday for his induction, and maybe Owens didn’t want to share the stage with him. Unlike Owens, Moss got in in his first year of eligibility.
A look at the numbers makes the case for Owens, who had a great career playing in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Buffalo and Cincinnati. He’s second only to Jerry Rice in receiving yards and third in touchdown catches behind Rice and Moss. He was a six-time Pro Bowl pick, and his touchdown celebrations live on in NFL lore.
Yes, he once questioned the sexuality of one of his quarterbacks. Yes, he threw quarterbacks and coaches under the bus whenever it suited his fancy.
But he deserved to be in Canton. He should be in Canton.
I don’t fully understand what he’d tried to accomplish here, but I would imagine he’s a tough guy to understand. I think he’s going to regret it later on because a lot of the other Hall of Famers are going to hold it against him. Part of the joy of being one of those guys is not just getting inducted but all the things you go to together in the future. When the other Hall of Famers get together, he won’t really be welcomed.
To Owens, though, it doesn’t seem to matter.
It’s just T.O. being T.O.
