Sympathy for Terrell Owens

Don't let his off-field antics subtract from his on-field legacy.

I’ve heard numerous media outlets sound off on Terrell Owens’ legacy in light of the fact that the 37-year-old wide receiver has had surgery to repair his ACL in the past month.  This is a surgery, it should be noted, that usually takes a bare minimum of nine months to recover from, and often players don’t regain their top form for two years, if ever.  Whether or not Owens is finished, his legacy for the most part is complete at this point in his career, and I’d like to offer my two cents on one of the most controversial sports stars of the past fifteen years.

A third round pick from Tennessee-Chattanooga, Owens started his career in San Francisco as a shy rookie.  His first step toward stardom came in the 1998 Wild Card game against the Packers at Candle Stick Park.  Niner fans remember it fondly.  Packer fans remember that Jerry Rice fumbled on the game’s final drive and the referees missed the call.  What can’t be forgotten though is the final play of that game: Steve Young stumbling and nearly falling to the ground after taking the snap from center only to recover and throw a 30-yard strike to Owens, who got sandwiched between two defenders at the goal line and hung on for the game-winning touchdown.  After that catch Owens came to the sidelines bawling, tears literally streaming down his face.  After dropping passes throughout that game (a theme throughout his career) he made the game-winning play.

Had we known then what we know now about Owens, our perspective on him may have been forever altered.  Owens was and is one of the most emotional players of his time, which has often led to his sideline tirades, his media disasters, his teary press conferences, and his feuds with every coach or quarterback he’s ever played with.

 And had we seen his incendiary antics as the product of emotion fueled by an incredibly difficult upbringing, we may have labeled Owens as perseverant, passionate, fierce, and intense.  Instead, we call him obnoxious, a cancer, an egoist, a typical “look at me” athlete.

This article from Sports Illustrated details how Owens was raised by his mother and extremely strict grandmother after his parents divorced.  He was often not allowed to leave the house save to go to school, and wasn’t allowed to play sports until high school.  Whipped when disobedient and never met his father until the age of 11, Owens lived an overall terrifying home life.  Perhaps his social ineptness was at times due as much to a lack of practice as it was a product of a defective or arrogant personality.   Maybe his media miscues and self-centered actions frustrated fans who didn’t bother to try to understand the human underneath the helmet, but as always, there is more to the story than the tale the media crafts.

After speaking on Owens’ personality, a discussion I believe to be an unfortunate sideshow to what is a Hall of Fame career, Owens’ on-field abilities and production were nothing short of historic.  Nobody at the wide receiver position comes close the Mount Everest that are Jerry Rice’s career numbers,  but Owens stockpiled as good a case for #2 all-time as any pass catcher in history.

More than simply productive, Owens was an absolute freak athlete, maybe the best athlete to ever play the receiver position.  At 6’3” and 225 pounds with sprinter speed and the strength to run through linebackers, Owens in his prime was a weapon that demanded double and triple teams.  He consistently competed with Randy Moss for the label of best in the game, and both players had their moments where they appeared to have the edge in that discussion.

The record holder for most catches in a single game with 20, Owens could dominate at a position that relies heavily on ten other players just to get the ball.  He has also successfully, until now, avoided the injury bug and put up huge numbers year in and year out.  In the '04-'05 season, as part of a super-star tandem with Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia, Owens broke his leg in Week 15 and came back to play in the Super Bowl six weeks later.

In that game Owens didn’t just run a few routes and act as a decoy either; he had 9 catches for 122 yards.  Question his persona if you want, but never his passion for the game and his will to compete.  All he wanted to do was win that game, and you could tell he wasn’t near 100% healthy.  Still, he had a dominant performance.

A five-time All-Pro, Owens is near the top of leaderboards in every significant receiving category.  Owens currently ranks second all-time in receiving yards, is tied for second with Moss for all-time receiving touchdowns, and is fifth all-time in receptions.

Owens may well come back from this injury and play again.  I won’t put anything past the man who played the Super Bowl on a semi-broken leg, the man who caught 72 passes for 983 yards and 9 touchdowns last year at the age of 36 on a bad team.  But with an ACL injury and the clear fact that Owens is much nearer the end than the beginning of his NFL life, we are forced to look back at the career of one of the most conflicting figures in sports.

Remember him however you choose—entertainer, showboat, superstar, freak athlete, arrogant—but in that remembrance don’t forget his numbers, his passion, or his drive to be the best in the game.  Owens’ career serves as a case study in how the media portrays players and how the media can be very convincing at shaping the image of a player without always telling both sides of the story.

Mostly, I’ll remember him as one of the most imposing talents I’ve ever seen on the football field and one of my all-time favorite players to watch.  I guess if I had one sentence to describe the joy of watching T.O. play his game, it would have to be, “Getcha  popcorn ready!”

--from @AdamHocking

(image from flickr.com)