How Is Free Agent Terrell Owens Not a Hall of Famer?

Terrell Owens' injury, if nothing else, has giving us some football news to discuss while we await the end of the NFL lockout. It did spark a debate on whether Owens is a Hall of Fame wide receiver.

It was reported that Owens underwent surgery on an ACL injury last month. Anyone that is remotely familiar with sports or injuries for that matter, is aware that knee injuries can take anywhere from six months to a year to heal depending on the severity.

If healthy, there is no doubt that Owens can still perform; last season, he had 72 catches for 983 yards and nine touchdowns while missing games at the end of the season due to injury. In reports from the AP, his agent Drew Rosenhaus said his client was not retiring and he will be on a roster next season.

Owens rose to stardom in San Francisco as the understudy to Jerry Rice. The 49ers selected him in the 1996 NFL draft in Round 3 with the 89th selection.

Owens has played for four other teams in the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals during his 15-year NFL career.

In that span, he has managed to catch 1,078 catches for 15,934 yards, and 153 touchdowns, all while being named to six Pro Bowls and five All-Pro teams, this according to pro-football reference. 

That puts him fifth all-time in catches, second all time in receiving yards and fourth in touchdowns. That places Owens ahead of guys who are considered all-time greats at the position like Michael Irvin, James Lofton and Tim Brown.

High-ranking members of the media will have a say in whether Owens makes the cut. This is a double-edged sword because many members may not like Terrell Owens for his brash nature.

He has always been outspoken having thrown many of his high profile teammates under the bus like Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb. 

One thing is for sure you can not discredit anything Owens has done on the field just because he is not a media darling in the mold of a Larry Fitzgerald or Jerry Rice, for that matter. He has maintained a good reputation off the field by keeping himself out of any serious trouble.

To be blunt, you cannot take O.J. Simpson out of the Hall of fame because of his off-the-field incidents and he may have the worst off-field reputation of any athlete ever. So how can Owens be punished for a colorful character?

So, T.O. should be left alone. He has a big personality, is prone to crying, may drop a few passes but has produced year in and year out. It does not make sense how people could say a player of his caliber is a borderline Hall of Famer. 

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