Rarely in the NFL does the road to retirement run smooth. Many careers are cruelly curtailed by injury, some begin and end with little ceremony, very occasionally a player gets it just right (see Michael Strahan of the New York Giants or, better still John Elway of the Denver Broncos) and go out on the highest of highs. But for many of the sport’s elite, the temptation to play on when their best days are long gone, results in a slightly awkward separation from the game that once extolled their talents.
Those who soar highest have the furthest to fall, and for long-time standout, Terrell Owens, the descent to Earth is proving a jolty and embarrassing one.
Owens has been one of the league’s premier threats at the Wide Receiver position for the best part of two decades. He began his career with a bang when he was became the third round draft pick, 89th overall, by the San Francisco 49ers in 1996.
He joined a team that had just won the last of its five Super Bowls. Expectations were high, but Owens only made it to the big game once in his career, while playing for the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, a game they lost by three points to the New England Patriots.
He was, without a doubt, one of the greatest talents to ever play the game, but his on-field antics and off-field histrionics made him a difficult character to work with. The fans may have enjoyed keeping up with his latest outburst, but for the men required to play with T.O., his attitude was a distraction his talents could only support for so long.
After the 49ers traded him to the Eagles in 2004, Owens began a bumpy period in his career, finding himself bounced around from team-to-team. He only lasted 2 seasons in Philadelphia before being sent to the Dallas Cowboys, who gave him his marching orders in 2009. He then wound-up on a struggling Buffalo Bills team where he lasted a single year, before serving the same time in Cincinnati, playing for the Bengals alongside similarly controversial wideout Chad Johnson.
He missed the entirety of the 2011 season, as no team was willing to give him a roster spot. During his time away from the NFL he played sparingly for the Austin Wranglers Indoor Football team – hardly a glorious end to a career that has made so many headlines.
It would seem Owens thought the same thing. Never one to skimp on his physical conditioning, Owens publicly announced himself available for hire, with the intention of competing for a team in 2012. His physical tools, his speed in particular, have not diminished with age. No one doubted his body, but his mind was under review.
The Seattle Seahawks, coached by former USC man, Pete Carroll, are a team well known for taking chances on players with character issues, and Carroll did just that by signing him before the preseason began, in the hope that Owens could contribute right away to the development of his new quarterbacks, Matt Flynn, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, and Russell Wilson, the rookie out of Wisconsin.
So far Owens has failed to impress. He is locked in a battle with fellow veteran receiver – Braylon Edwards – for the final roster spot. According to reports, Edwards has fared better in practice, and there seems little to choose between the pair on the field. Owens has let simple balls slip through his fingers, leading many to suggest he is done in the league. His concentration is poor and his effort when not being targeted has been called into question. Edwards has, in the past, been called lazy and criticised for giving up on dead routes. That was never the case with Owens in his prime, but as these two stars attempt to salvage their careers, it looks like it means more to one – Edwards – than the other.
On Friday the 24th of August, in the third game of the Seahawks preseason campaign, Owens caught two passes for 41 yards; Edwards caught one ball for 32. He was one of 12 receivers targeted on the night, finishing second in total yardage. The statistics, in comparison to his team-mates’ are not woeful, but it is the downtime between making plays that send coaches into a frenzy. The dropped balls, the apathy, the air that suggests he is bigger than the team.
It must be frustrating for a guy like T.O. Few have reached the dizzying heights he did with the 49ers and Eagles. Few could dream of possessing his natural ability. Few could give so much for so long to a sport, no matter how much they loved the game. But what is really vexing is that despite Owens’ achievements, talent and commitment, he still manages to mess things up by being…well, by being himself.
It’s almost as if the awareness of just how good he was is an excuse to not turn-in the finished product week in, week out. You get the feeling he expected a championship would come his way at some point during his career, but then it never did.
It is heartbreaking that things haven’t worked out for him, and devastating that he looks likely to end his stellar career as a reject from a second-rate team, who don’t feel he has anything to offer.
There’s still a chance he will find work in the league, but the days appear numbered for this one-time superstar.
Editor's note: since the publication of this article, Terrell Owens has been released by the Seahawks and is currently a free agent.
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