Terrell Owens is inarguably one of the top five wide receivers to ever play the game of football. He's in second place in receiving yards (15,934), ranks third in receiving touchdowns (153), and eighth in receptions (1,078). So why did he have to wait this long to get in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? The haters.
Now I know people expect T.O. to blame everyone but himself when it came to his shortcomings on the field, but I have to side with him on this Hall of Fame fiasco. The selection committee is made up of sports nerds looking to teach lessons to guys they owe their careers to. Owens wasn't always nice to the media, but he gave us moments like when he held a shirtless press conference while working out in his driveway, the time he cried over Tony Romo, and when he ran to the middle of the field to spike the ball on the Cowboys star after a touchdown. T.O. gave us bars and for that we should be grateful.
Whether you felt he was a bad teammate or not, an athlete should make the Hall of Fame because of what he did on the field. Owens will be sure to flame his haters during his well-earned speech this summer, as he stated on Out of Bounds this past Monday, so I made a hit list for him.
The Media
Especially Hall of Fame voters and writers like my guy Mike Tanier who disregard things like stats when shitting on Terrell Owens for being a bad teammate. Because, honestly, after looking at the numbers, that's the only case to be made for making him wait three tries to get in. As if there aren't women beaters, racists, and drug addicts in the Hall. The selection committee used him being a bad teammate as their excuse because T.O. never really fucked with them to begin with. They let their egos get in the way the same way they say his ego got in the way. Hypocrites!
Donovan McNabb
Well, these tables have turned haven't they? T.O. tried to tell us about McNabb for years, but we didn't listen. Recently, McNabb was fired from ESPN for sexually harassing a coworker. Wow, what a selfish act, like the time he threw up (allegedly) during Super Bowl XXXIX and ruined the Eagles' chances of winning their first championship. My guy T.O. caught nine balls for 122 yards while playing on a broken leg. What did McNabb do? He threw for 357 yards and three touchdowns, but had three interceptions and puked his heart on the 50-yard line.
Bill Polian
According to the former NFL GM and ESPN analyst, both Owens and Randy Moss don't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame because they didn't work hard and made their teams worse. When Moss played with Tom Brady, they went undefeated in the regular season, and both guys are top five wide receivers all-time. Imagine if they "worked harder?" Polian needs to get off his high horse.
Cris Carter
Cris Carter is a Hall of Fame player. Cris Carter got in after six tries. Cris Carter is an analyst/commentator and has said that Terrell Owens is a "flawed" candidate. Cris Carter isn't a better player than Owens and had a bunch of off the field issues involving substance abuse early in his career. One would say that's being a bad teammate, no? Don't throw stones in a glass house.
Steve Mariucci
His former head coach during the 49ers days has been on record saying that T.O. deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Yet, T.O. feels like it's "fake love" because the two never got along during their time together, even though Mooch says good things about Owens from time to time. Petty is T.O.'s middle name.
Jason Garrett
T.O. got at his former Cowboys coach during a Twitter rant a couple months back. Owens believes Garrett drove him and coach Wade Phillips out of town—and he still hasn't been able to win shit. Expect Garrett to be roasted this summer during T.O.'s speech.
