T.O. Follow-Up

Stand your ground Eagles! Stand your ground!

Did anyone get the feeling...really...that there was any sort of contrition or genuine remorse in the words puked out by Terrell Owens at his press conference yeterday? Anyone? I didn't think so.

Just a bunch of words typed up by his smarmy agent Drew Rosenhaus. Then Rosenhaus gets up and pretty much destroys any possibility that fans would side with Owens by citing how unfairly T.O. has been treated by the media and everyone else. Waaah-Waaah! Puh-leeeease! Give me a frickin' break.

What was apparent to me was that these guys are finally realizing that their little game of "We have the sports world by the short hairs" is over. And somebody...in this case the Eagles...is putting a stop to it. They were trying to maneuver a way back to regular pay. (In T.O.'s case about a quarter of a million dollars per game)

One quote from Owens in yesterday's media opportunity is particularly laughable.

"I fight for what I think is right. In doing so, I alienated a lot of my fans and my teammates".

This quote goes right to the heart of what is wrong with this guy. In the space of two short sentences, in which he is supposedly apologizing, he uses the word "I" three times, and "my" twice. Again, it's all about "me and my world". Not anything else. He believes they are his fans, and his teammates, and they are operating on his time and his turf.

Could he have made a better impression by saying it this way? "As a fighter, sometimes one makes mistakes. These mistakes have obviously alienated football fans and fellow members of the Eagles team. This behavior has been destructive and is unacceptable. I want to be a better person and teammate. I intend to change."

I'm not sure that even had he said it this way, his body language and general attitude could have carried it off. He smirks and snears at the world. And characterizing himself as a fighter is even more off-base. His enormous athletic ability has gotten him a free ride through life. He hasn't had to fight for anything, including the spotlight which he so desperately craves. Fight? For what? I don't see where he and his agent could believe even someone as dillusional as they are would swallow that one.

And having the agent that everyone loves to hate get up and try to make things better just made things worse. These two guys are a team that personifies what big-name, big-money, big-ego sports stars and their agents should strive NOT to be. They are so detatched from reality that they actually believe they are part of the big picture. In reality, if both of them died tomorrow, few outside their immediate family would shed a tear.

I'm sure there are some who hope that T.O. gets reinstated. I'm sure there are some who hope he catches a touchdown pass to give the Eagles their much sought after Super Bowl win. But, outside of Philadelphia, I believe there are many more who would like to see this fellow squirm in his own venom for a long while, and not be paid to be the boorish, childish, and selfish icon who shows kids how to spit in the face of convention.

This whole saga has now become a media trial about what's right and wrong. What's acceptable and unacceptable. What you can, and cannot, get away with before enough is enough. Let the lawyers fight it out now. And let T.O. eat his lunch backstage.

Stand your ground Eagles! Stand your ground!