Terrell Owens has always been a Keyshawn, whining and crying about how great and misunderstood he is and behaving like he's more important than the team. The Eagles gambled on him and cut him some slack because he produced. No longer. McNabb has turned on him, his teammates want him gone, and the adulation and respect he earned with fans by sucking it up and overachieving in the Super Bowl is rapidly disappearing if not gone. He could have reversed field at any time and all would have been forgiven. It is really a shame when immaturity or ego costs you millions of dollars, not to mention endorsements and your life after football. What's worse is that another team will pick him up and pay him. But the price tag of having a T.O. on your team is steep indeed.
No doubt Owens, in his infinitely infantile worldview, is feeling persecuted by the public criticism he has been getting. It probably doesn't occur to him that he created this mess for himself. That would require a sense of accountability. Instead, he lashes out at McNabb, who is everything Owens will never be.
There is nothing inherently wrong with a player's trying to improve his contract. Owens' first mistake was in making it public and squandering the immense goodwill he had earned from Eagles fans. His second mistake was dragging McNabb into it with that first ill-advised insult. Now he has made a third, more serious mistake.
If Reid is as concerned with team chemistry as he says he is, the coach will make sure this is Owens' last mistake as an Eagle.
This whole situation also argues against using NCAA Division I football as the NFL's minor league system. Not that I have a better suggestion, but how can somebody this stupid have earned a college degree? Oh, but I forget - he probably didn't.
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As Kurt Russell says in MIRACLE, "I'm not looking for the best players, but the right players." Joe Torre used the same principle to win Championships in the late 1990s.
Very rarely do hotdog players make up for their clubhouse disruptions on the field of play. Reggie Jackson may have given the wrong impression to later divas with his performance in the 1970s. Barry Bonds and his nonsense certainly couldn't beat the Angels and their team of focused players. And the current Yankees haven't had any luck with a roster of distractions either.
T.O. and Randy Moss are like V.D. They're more fun to get than to have.
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