If it's legal to do this...
The Long, Strange Trip of Terrell Owens
SFGate.com -- C.W. Nevius Blog
The report that Terrell Owens had attempted suicide had a lot of people shaking their heads. (I've had to update the blog since he said that he wasn't trying to hurt himself.) His explanation is a little fishy, but even if we take it at face value, it is another weird moment in what has turned out to be a strange football career. When the original report was that he'd tried to kill himself, there were those who said they never thought he'd do that.
Terrell Owens used to say he was "in awe'' of the big time players. Then he turned into one.
It's a life-long theme with Owens, actually. They didn't think a lot of things. They didn't think he'd ever be a player -- and they meant in high school, not in the Super Bowl. They didn't think he'd he'd get out of Alexander City, Alabama.
And most of all they didn't think he'd turn out to be this showboating, controversial, troubled character.
I met Owens back in 1996, when I interviewed him before his first starting assignment with the 49ers. He was a sweet kid. People don't believe that now, but he really was.
At that point we didn't know if his first name was pronounced TEAR-ell or ter-ELL.
"It's Terrell, like barrel,'' he said.
He joked about the college program where he played, Tennessee-Chattanooga (he said he got some interest from Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina but went with T-C). He was, he used to admit happily, a bit of a bumpkin.
In fact, he said, when he made the Tennessee-Chattanooga basketball team, and they traveled to Salt Lake City, it was the farthest west he'd ever gone.
"What,'' I asked, "was the next farthest place?''
"West Virginia,'' he said.
He told the story of his grandmother, who was his surrogate mom, and who was so protective of him that when he got a bike, she made him stay on the driveway, riding around in little circles.
He was skinny (185 pounds), raw, and thrilled to be playing in high school. He bulked up in a big way in college, so much so that a suspicious person might wonder if performance drugs were involved. By the time he was a senior he was 6-4, 220 pounds and could run like an antelope.
He was taken in the third round of the NFL draft in 1996 and was hardly a sensation. Ten wide receivers were taken ahead of him and J. J. Stokes was the big name newcomer at the time.
Back at the time, he told me he wandered into the 49ers locker room after he was chosen.
"I just stood there and stared,'' he said, "just trying to visualize being in the same room with those guys. I got chill bumps.''
A few years later, after a game, I walked up to Owens at the mirror. He was putting in his diamond earring. I asked some innocuous question, probably not the most intelligent one he'd heard that day.
He blew up. He yelled at me, told me he'd already talking, and wasn't talking any more. I was so surprised I stood there and looked at him. I couldn't think of a response.
"Didn't you hear?'' a reporter said. "He turned into a jerk.''
I don't know when that happened. It would be easy to blame the bling and the money. He must have gotten some bad advice, that's for sure. Suddenly he was stomping on the star in the middle of the Dallas field, or pulling a pen out of his sock after a touchdown to autograph the football.
By the time he left the 49ers it was a case of good riddance. He was a great receiver and an even bigger pain in the butt. He went on to call Jeff Garcia gay, get into a feud with Donovan McNabb when he was with the Eagles, and gave every indication of being a rampaging prima donna. He played in the Super Bowl with a broken bone and the Eagles still didn't want to keep him.
He's been the center of controversy and trouble ever since. The move to Dallas had all the earmarks of a disaster, and sure enough, here it is.
He's in deep trouble. He's lost his way, and not just as a player. Whether or not he ever plays in another Super Bowl isn't really the question. He's at risk for his life.
And no, I am not saying it is anyone's fault but his. There are plenty of kids from tiny towns and humble backgrounds who hit the big time and manage just fine. He had a miracle chance and he blew it.
But somewhere in there is that kid, riding little circles on his grandmother's driveway, the guy who was thrilled to have a chance to play.
But right now that guy is lost. There are a lot of people who are completely fed up with him. And they wish Owens the worst.
They can stop now. They got their wish.
I guess because it makes for a better story.
I don't remember this at all.....link?
