Tremendous Upside
Footballguy
There was a review of TO's new autobiography in this week's SI, and it had some content that made me re-evalate him...-Did not meet his father until he was 11-Rarely saw his mother, who worked two shifts at the Russell Athletic mill in town-Was regularly and severely beaten by his grandmother growing up: "The only time you could relax was when she got depressed thinking about her mother [who disappeared when To's grandma was only 12] and started drinking...But if she drank too much you might get another whipping."-The windows of his house were kept shut and the shades were drawn, with Terrell only allowed to leave the house to go to shcool or church-Developed a crush on a girl across the street, but was told by her father that he couldn't be interested in her because she was his half-sister...Her father was HIS father also, and he had never been told that he was living across the street from his fatherI think it is remarkable that he was able to get beyond this childhood trauma and abuse (physical and emotional) to become such a successful athlete...Owens is quoted as saying "my upbringing made for underdeveloped social skills."That is certainly understandable, and really, a lot of what people criticize Owens for can be viewed as a manifestation of social dysfunction (his inability to stop talking about certain subjects [i.e. the Garcia thing]; his showy attitude that rubs many the wrong way, etc.)...If you look at it from another perspective, however, (and a point that Owens himself has made) Terrell has never been arrested, never beaten his wife/girlfriend, never been suspended for drug use, etc...Compared to many other athletes, both in the NFL and in other sports, who have much more sodid pasts but don't get 1/2 the criticism that Owens does, Owens has been a choirboy...I know I will be looking at Owens differently from here on out, and will actively root for him to succeed (except when I play him in FF, of course)...
unfold.Got it?
