Terrell Owens vs. Media: Cutting Through the Buffalo Bull to Get the Real Story

It's such a hot topic, my inner Bills fan is demanding I write about it. What am I referring to? You've got to know by now.

T.O.

Who else?

His recent comments have been discussed more than the Kanye West/Taylor Swift incident.

Well maybe not that much, but it sure seems like it.

It's been sizzling on all the sports networks and media outlets. For those of you living under a rock, here's what T.O. said: (paraphrased of course)

"We missed some chances against New England. There's always room for improvement. Trent needs to assess what he has in front of him a little better. I like how we played until those last five minutes, and Trent did a great job of managing the game, although we could take more shots down field, utilizing Lee's and my own abilities."

Let's take a closer look. 

Terrell Owens is a competitor. It's been said that he's the hardest working wideout in the history of the game not named Jerry Rice. Owens' former teammates and competitors have the utmost respect for his tireless work ethic. The steadiness he's shown as one of the league's elite wide receivers over the past decade proves he demands a lot of himself and his teammates. 

So, when his team loses, and he feels he could have been more instrumental in victory, he has the right to be a little upset. I'm not at all saying his statements display that he's angry, but a guy like Owens expects the best, and expects to win.

Everything is magnified in a loss. The Bills' offense put them in great spot to pull off the upset, but a few unfortunate bounces went against Buffalo, and they lost.

What isn't being taken away from the game is that Owens' mere presence directly resulted in a monster statistical night by Fred Jackson and the beginning of a possible resurgence of Trent Edwards.

Yes, we know that because Brandon Meriweather was playing deep in centerfield the screen play was viable, but the Bills faced no stacked boxes.

For once.

Imagine that.

The Patriots were deathly afraid of Evans—or in this case Owens—hitting the home-run.

What am I getting at?

Well if the Bills win the game, there's absolutely no way you hear Owens mutter a word about the lack of looks his way.

Ever think he feels partially responsible—being a seasoned veteran, and most likely a future Hall of Famer—when his team goes down? His competitive spirit isn't allowed to take over and get upset at a loss? It happened with Jordan. It happened with Rice.

The man speaks his mind. How sick of hearing the same old "Football 101" postgame soundbytes are you? Because I'm beyond sick to my stomach.

"We played hard, but hats off to their defense."

"We take this season game at a time, and have to get ready for next week."

Give me a break. Give me something with substance. That's supposed to be the point of interviews.

The point is supposed to be to get inside the head of what the athlete is thinking. Not what his publicist rehearsed with him after practice.

It sounds to many that T.O. is a self-centered, egotistical player, which he may very well be. But, he's good. Actually he's great.

People laugh when Chad Ochocinco says, "throw me the ball, I'm the best option we've got."

But it's true, isn't it?

When we signed T.O. didn't we envision him and Lee Evans tearing through opposing secondaries? Owens has yet to leave out Evans in any of this thoughts about going down field. He knows Evans is good.

I'm agreeing with Owens here, but that doesn't mean I'm bashing offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt or Edwards. They missed a few chances against the Patriots and still had a chance to win, didn't they?

Developing T.O. and Lee Evans can only help the team right? That's all there is to it.

Van Pelt will scheme to get the ball to Evans and Owens more often. And believe me, it won't just be to make Owens happy. He's still a supreme talent, with years of experience. Van Pelt wants the ball in T.O.'s hands just as much as Owens does.

Lastly, I heard today on the radio that we, as Bills fans, are taking the side of Owens because he's wearing a Bills uniform.

Don't believe it.

Yet.

What he said was harmless—heck, Trent Edwards and Alex Van Pelt echoed his opinion on Media Day, Wednesday.

I just want you to be fully aware of the reality of what's going on here. T.O. hates ESPN and they aren't to fond of him either.

Don't let them hypnotize you into thinking something is materializing, when it's not. 

T.O. unquestionably has shown in the past he's willing to throw some pretty wicked jabs at his quarterback and offense, but he hasn't done it yet in Buffalo.

Not even close.