NFL Free Agency: 3 Reasons Wide Receiver Terrell Owens Isn't Done Yet

Free-agent wide receiver Terrell Owens may be one of the most polarizing and entertaining football players to don the shield in the last 10 years.

Owens allegedly suffered a knee injury while taping his VH1 television show after the end of last season.

Another source alleges Owens injured himself during his personal offseason workouts.

Although no one can truly validate what took place, Owens' agent Drew Rosenhaus has confirmed his client will be ready to go come September 11th.

The issue is, who will take a chance on a 37-year-old wide receiver who is recovering from a torn ACL?

Here are three reasons why the former superstar can still be a factor for an NFL team.

Owens Has Proven To Have Post-Injury Success

Owens' ankle injury was well publicized during the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl run back in 2004.

The injury was just as severe as his current ACL affection, yet Owens strove to return and played in Super Bowl XXXIX, racking up 122 receiving yards on nine catches.  

Even though it was in a losing effort, the world witnessed Owens as a true competitor. For all of his loud-mouthed and juvenile antics, if the Eagles would have pulled that game out Owens would most likely have been named MVP.

Owens clearly had no issues with the ankle the following season, pulling in 763 receiving yards, averaging 16.2 yards a catch and six touchdowns through the first seven games.

After voicing his displeasure with the Eagles organization, Owens was suspended, then deactivated for the rest of the season.

Yes, the man gets himself in trouble by tossing his quarterbacks under the bus, as well as throwing out homophobic innuendos—but he produces, and we see he was still successful even after a significant injury. 

Owens Keeps in Incredible Shape with Strict Regimen

We've all seen the video: Owens working out and doing sit-ups in front of his driveway while the media ask him questions about being kicked out of camp before the 2005 season.

I'm not talking about the hilarity of the situation. I'm referencing how physically fit Owens is in the video.

While the video may be six years old, Owens still has a brutal training regimen and is a self-proclaimed fitness guru, having this to say to LA Times Magazine in October of 2010, "I treat my body like a bank—you're only going to get out of it what you put into it." 

No matter how old Owens gets, he's not going to quit on his training and can probably outlast many of the younger players in any NFL camp.

Owens doesn't like to be outdone or outworked. He has such a strict and systematic plan because Owens knows what it takes to survive an NFL season and he wants to be as able-bodied as possible.

At 6'3", 225 pounds, Owens is still an imposing wide receiver with the ability to outperform smaller cornerbacks within the league.

That alone should earn Owens an invite to camp.

The Numbers Don't Lie, Owens Is Still Productive

NFL receivers typically decline with age, but Owens may be one of the few exceptions to the rule.

Playing alongside Chad Ochocinco and the emerging Jordan Shipley in Cincinnati, Owens caught 72 balls for 983 yards and nine touchdowns.

That's impressive for as bad as the Bengals were in 2010.

The argument can be made that Owens was unproductive in Buffalo during the 2009 season. Problem is, it's tough to have any kind of cohesion with your quarterback when the coaching staff is playing the "quarterback carousel" game.

Owens caught 55 passes for 829 yards while he played with the Bills, and that was having to catch balls from three different quarterbacks in a season because the coaching staff couldn't decide who to start between Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Brohm.

No one can be consistent and successful with that kind of dysfunction within a team.

Imagine putting Owens on a team with a stable quarterback. You mean to tell me the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints or San Diego Chargers couldn't do without a productive veteran like Owens? 

Owens Will Get His Chance

The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award will probably never be bestowed to Owens because he has shown himself to be a contentious locker-room guy as well as a player that's difficult to take seriously.

That's not the argument.

There's a team out there that needs wide receiver help and Owens has proven over and again that he can still play at the highest level.

Where he ends up is anyone's guess, but they will be receiving a football player that works hard, and a person who causes problems.