Insider | Notebook
It's a T.O. thing, baby.
These days that T.O. might mean Too Offensive.
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| Terrell Owens beats Shawn Springs for the TD that produced the end-zone fireworks. (AP) |
How can a player be so brazen as to pull a stunt like that during a game, actually showing up the opponent?
Here's how: It's a T.O. thing.
That's what Owens said anyway.
Some Seahawks players, none of whom was cornerback Shawn Springs, the player he beat on the play, tore into Owens for his actions.
Seattle coach Mike Holmgren didn't take too kindly to the score and sign, either.
"It's shameful," Holmgren said.
Shameful to whom? Springs? The Seahawks? The suits watching from the league office? Mr. Middle America watching in Des Moines?
The old timers might consider what Owens did Monday night as being a bit bombastic, but they also think rap is something you do only at the holidays. Some have even implied that in the old days the opposing players would have made him pay for pulling such a stunt.
They say the old timers might have rammed that pen where the sun doesn't shine.
"They probably would have done something," said Saints coach Jim Haslett, a former NFL linebacker.
Holmgren said he was upset his players didn't take action against Owens.
One Seattle player suggested retaliation might occur when the teams meet again in December. That's where this stuff gets dangerous. Retaliation could cost a guy his career, perhaps even maim him for life.
Maybe that's why the league has stepped in and said while Owens won't get fined this time -- aside from the normal $500 fine for tossing the ball in the stands -- any duplication of what he did will be subject to fine or discipline.
Signing over checks might deter signing over footballs.
Really, though, what's the big deal?
Haslett, whose team faces Owens and the 49ers this Sunday in a big NFC game, doesn't understand what all the fuss is about either concerning the Sharpie.
"I thought it was kind of funny," Haslett said. "It was kind of creative when you think about it."
It was both creative, since we hadn't seen anybody do it before, and it was cocky because Owens had the audacity of waiting to stick the pen in his sock until right before that series since he said he knew he was going to score.
So when he did beat Springs for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown, Owens was prepared to sign the ball for his financial advisor, who also happens to be Springs' financial advisor, and was sitting in Springs' luxury box at field level.
Owens was caught signing the ball by the ABC cameras, leading to the how-dare-he responses? The stuffed shirts, who couldn't find a good time if they were kids lost in a candy factory, simply don't understand this kind of behavior.
These were the same people who winced when Elmo Wright broke into that dance of his years back, helping set off decades of fun and creative end-zone celebrations that have since been stymied by the NFL suits. These are the same people who complain about the players jumping up and down after a big hit.
Who are they? Does fuddy-duddy sound right?
And they are back again on center stage, talking about when it was a different game, when there was respect among players. On and on it goes.
Owens has opened up the debate about whether NFL players have become such big hot dogs that there isn't enough mustard in a Gulden's factory to cover them. In an era where highlights can be seen over and over again, the thinking is players are now trying to one-up each other.
Is sportsmanship giving way to the me-first player? Or is Owens just the aberration, a player who loves to make himself stand out among the rest?
In talking to some league personnel and coaches this week, the consensus is that for the most part, players are well behaved. But several feel this type of isolated incident gives players a bad name.
"Hot dogging has been around a long time," said one team's personnel director. "It's just now that with all the highlights, we pay more attention to it because more attention is given to it. Guys like Owens are isolated. That's why this is such a big deal. The majority of our players don't condone that stuff."
Owens is perceived as the ultimate me-first player. The 49ers suspended him a few years back after he ran to midfield at Texas Stadium and danced on the star following a touchdown catch. His run-ins with coach Steve Mariucci are well documented, and Owens has challenged his coach for a variety of things in the past, one of which is not throwing him the ball.
Even before the Sharpie came out, Owens was caught by the cameras ranting after thinking he was open on a play; the reality being his mouth was far more open than he was on the play in question.
The scary part of this for many of the worked up is that kids around the country will try to imitate him. Can't you just see it, high school kids waiting in line at the local drug store as they load up on the Sharpies for their Friday night game?
Coaches will warn their kids, no drugs, no drinking, no illegal supplements and definitely stay away from the Sharpies.
C'mon. That's not going to happen. This was one moment of fun improvisation that many are taking to an extreme.
Is Owens a me-first player? Who isn't? Contrary to what we all want to believe, players play for themselves. Doubt it? Ask any of them whether they would take the big million-dollar contract or a Super Bowl ring, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who would take the ring.
That's aside from those who already have the money, but not the ring. Given a choice, family security for life is a whole lot more important than any ring.
Selfish? Certainly. But it's also a reality.
Maybe Owens just puts his me-first style on display more. And so what? Who does it really hurt? It's almost comical to hear Seattle defensive lineman John Randle ripping him for it, when Randle used to act up after his sacks. Wasn't his face being all painted up on game day a look-at-me act?
So lighten up, everyone. What Owens did was simply funny. It was spontaneous, laughable and, most of all, harmless.
It was just T.O. being T.O.
If it bothers you that much, here are two little letters that might help remedy that problem: T.O., as in Tune Out.
