The Lord of No Rings: The Terrell Owens Epic

I remember the first time I faked out my neighbor when we were playing ball outside our trailer park in the vacant lot across the road.  Visions of Barry Sanders flashed through my head as I was high-fived and congratulated by my brother and teammates.  What I had just done was nasty, it was sweet. 

Like most professional athletes, visions of their favorite player doing something "textbook Barry" or "textbook Jerry" meant you knew what they did on a weekly basis. It meant that someday you wanted to walk out onto that field and make a difference. 

As we take a look at one of the most talented athletes in the last 20 years of the NFL we have to wonder, did he think those things about Jerry Rice?  Will kids think those things about him?

Let's go back for a moment to 1996 when the San Francisco 49ers drafted Owens 89th overall. After starting 10 games that season, Owens went on to put up some very healthy numbers for a rookie. Then as fate would have it, in every life a little trouble will always fall.

The 49ers fans and players had to witness something no fan of the NFL wishes to. A legend goes down, and all you have in your cupboard is Owens. Owens responded that year by producing 60 receptions for 936 yards and eight touchdowns.

Over the next 6 years Owens would team up with Steve Young and eventually Jeff Garcia to produce 7,116 yards and 69 Touchdowns. Let's not forget that he blasted the Chicago Bears on December 17, 2000 with 20 catches for 283 yards, a record that stood for 50 years.

By 2003 Owens had been to 4 Pro-Bowls, a conference Championship game and been selected All-pro four times.

After some messy arbitration, the league allowed Owens to become a free agent and play for the Philadelphia Eagles, where for two seasons he put up 1963 yards, 20 touchdowns, a Pro Bowl and a Super Bowl appearance where they eventually lost to the New England Patriots. 

Now, after spending three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, where he has put up 3587, and 38 touchdowns, Owens finds himself at the next chapter of what has been one of the most interesting journeys in the NFL. 

Now, aside from the facts that he has had nine 1,000 yard seasons, including five consecutive,  and is second behind only Jerry Rice in receiving touchdowns, this guy could be the hardest free agent anyone wants to sign. 

He professional career reads like a rap sheet for repeat offenders of any nature. Here is a player that since 1999 has had the will and desire to anger, confuse, and alienate himself from just about everyone, with the exception of his agent Drew Rosenhaus. 

He has been fined by teams and the league for just about everything, from excessive celebration to falling asleep during team meetings.  At the age of 31 he wrote an autobiography.  Yep, and we all know how much knowledge one attains in life by the age of 31. He also has written a children's book about sharing.  Yep, sharing. 

His agent has called him the most dynamic and game-changing player in the sport. He has called himself "the answer." He has fought with teammates, coaches, media, opponents and his own staff. 

Here is a man with the greatest potential in the last 20 years to be the next Jerry Rice, to be "the answer" Now, his resume, while extremely impressive, also reads like that of a chronically late employee, who doesn't work well with others. 

An employee who screams at the customers when they feel he isn't working hard enough. An employee who can't work with his bosses. An employee who has had three different employers within the last five years. Now, if you were the man holding the pen about ready to write out that check, would you want Terrell Owens name to be on that? 

Chapter four in the story is going to happen; where and how are left up to Owens. The question on everyone's mind is, is this going to be something I want to read anymore of?  When all is said and done, are we going to find this in the $1 bin at your local story teller?