Terrell Owens Rumors: 49ers Would Be Foolish to Reunite with Former Star WR

The 49ers certainly need to improve at receiver if they're going to make a Super Bowl push, but that improvement must not come in the form of Terrell Owens. 

But due to the release of Braylon Edwards, injuries to Ted Ginn Jr. and Kyle Williams, as well as a couple of tweets, the possibility of this happening doesn't seem too remote. 

It started with Owens, who sent a Tweet to former Buffalo teammate Donte Whitner, who's now playing for the 49ers. 

Keeping those of us who love good rumors happy, Whitner responded.

This possibility certainly doesn't lack intrigue. It also doesn't lack reasons that it should never go down. 

Need is Not Big Enough

According to Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area, both Ginn and Williams are likely to be back for the playoffs. That leaves Sunday's game at the Rams as the only game where the 49ers are going to have a problem putting receivers on the field. 

While this is a big game, they're playing the Rams. This is the same team that the 49ers shut out in Week 13, and did so rather easily. The Rams only crossed midfield once. 

So, while the 49ers do need to win on Sunday, they won't need many receivers to do it. They can stack the box and run with Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter all day, finding Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis on short passes. 

It won't be the prettiest game of all time, but the 49ers can score 14 points and win comfortably. 

Can T.O. Still Do It?

Fans of his will likely point to his 983 yard, nine touchdown performance from 2010. It's true that unless Michael Crabtree goes for nearly 200 yards, or Vernon Davis catches three touchdowns, that those numbers would be better than what the 49ers weapons have done this year. 

There's a slight problem with that logic. 

That was 2010. This is 2011. Actually, by the time the 49ers play their next game, it will be 2012. Owens is coming off of an injury and hasn't played in more than a year.

He's also 38 years old. At the beginning of the season where Owens would get an entire training camp, this move might be worth exploring. But now, you're not going to be able to rely on any significant production.

And at this point, the production you can rely on is too close to what you get from Crabtree. Owens is no longer a receiver that brings a significant vertical threat. Kyle Williams, Ted Ginn and Vernon Davis are all scarier threats to beat the defense with a deep ball than Owens. 

T.O. Circus

Everywhere T.O. has gone, drama has followed. The 49ers know this. The team may be made up of entirely different players than the ones that were in San Francisco when Owens was last in San Francisco, but the front office has some holdovers. They know.

More importantly, the fans and media have plenty of holdovers. And that's the real problem here. 

Even if he acts right, Owens will attract a tremendous amount of attention. What's made this team work this season is that they are under the radar. Owens would make them anything but under the radar. 

All about Owens

This one ties relatively closely to the T.O. circus. Everywhere Owens has gone, it's been all about him. The 49ers have thrived all year on a team concept. Yes, they have stars, but they don't dominate the limelight in the way that Owens has throughout his career.

With Owens, the attention is on him. He brings it on himself. It's never not happened. Even when it looks like he's acting right, it's a way to bring the attention on him. 

Do you remember this?

It's hard to see that and not point out that Owens was not asked a question about Tony Romo. Yet, he went out of his way to defend him, getting emotional. At least let the question be asked before giving that kind of response. In doing that, Owens brought more criticism onto Romo than was already going to come. 

He's done stuff like that his entire career. Sometimes it seems more malicious than other times, but it's always about Owens. 

Again, if we're talking about a full season where a team can slowly get used to the antics, it's more worth talking about. But we're talking about Owens potentially being thrown right in the middle of the playoffs.

For a team that's new to that scene already, this is not something that they need. It's fun to speculate on, but should never get beyond the Twitter pages of a few former teammates. 

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