Terrell Owens' Exit Should Be an Ocho-Cinco Wake-Up Call

The severed relationship between Terrell Owens and the Dallas Cowboys sent more shockwaves across the NFL than any other post-season acquisition or release.

Though the impact lies solely on the future of the Cowboys franchise, plenty of GMs made it a point to take an early stance, vowing the sure-to-be Hall of Famer will have no impact on the future of theirs.

This places Drew Rosenhaus back in a familiar role, performing damage control and searching for a new T.O. home. But before he hits the concrete, he should have a sit-down with four other clients, where together they would retrace the events in Dallas that led to this point.

Anquan Boldin, Plaxico Burress, Jeremy Shockey, and Chad Johnson have all been quiet since season’s end, but each has made it clear that they can be a disruptive force in any locker room.

Jeremy Shockey was vocal about his dislikes in New York, before joining the Saints for some Southern whining.

Anquan Boldin makes no secret of his desires to flee the desert, which was only highlighted by a playoff shouting match with then offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

When Plaxico Burress isn’t shooting himself, he’s blowing off team meetings and practices.

And Chad Johnson appeared to be more on a mission to express his hate for the Bengals’ operations than express any love to be on a football field.

Of the four men, the exit in Dallas should be more of a wake-up call for Chad Johnson, who possesses similar traits as Owens, and has much admiration for the man. If T.O. is the Prima Donna of this opera, Ocho-Cinco is the understudy.

They’ve made the NFL their stage, where there’s a demand for the starring role, and desperation to secure headlines and reviews. Negative attention is better than none at all, and audiences not captured by athleticism, are more easily caged by their anger.

Cincinnati will start the 2009 season without the departed T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and for the first time since transferring to Oregon State in 2000, Chad Johnson will take the field without that familiar face on the other side.

He longed for his moment alone in the spotlight, and now he has it. Hopefully, through the acts of Owens, he’s learned the dos and don’ts of stardom.

No man is bigger than a franchise. And in this grand theater, with its cast of egos, there’s a difference between the perennial star closing Sunday shows with a roar of approval, and the jester’s opening acts across several towns, with each greeted with bouts of laughter.

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