Terrell Owens Workout Example of Athletes Who Don't Know When to Walk Away

It's not that Terrell Owens embarrassed himself in Tuesday's workout. He's obviously in great physical shape and can still run routes and catch passes. 

But what that workout did was draw a lot of attention onto Owens. Now, I know that nobody showed up in person to watch. But ESPN 2 and the NFL Network were both in attendance on Tuesday. So, any relevant NFL people who wanted to see what Owens could do were perfectly capable of doing so.

But what happened?

Owens looked very much like a receiver who will soon be 38. He looked very much like a receiver who's coming off of an injury.

So, if you're trying to decide on whether or not to sign Owens, you have you ask yourself something.

Considering the drama that Owens is notorious for, the attention and distraction that signing him would absolutely bring, his age, the recent injury history and the fact that his production is diminishing, is Owens worth bringing in?

No, he's not.

The attention isn't all his fault. He's just a big name with a well known past. That kind of thing will absolutely bring a lot of media to the team and with that, distractions will come.

Also, don't mistake me saying that his production is diminishing with me saying that he's bad. Actually Owens' numbers last year were quite good. Still, his production in recent years isn't what it was last decade.

Owens is a gamble. That's undeniable. But to win in the NFL, you have to take a few gambles. But nothing we saw on Tuesday would indicate that he's worth the gamble, at least not when you consider everything else.

No, this looks more to like an athlete desperately trying to hang on. Owens is not the first and he won't be the last, but he's certainly in that line.

This happens for various reasons to athletes. In some cases, it's financial. In other cases, it's just an athlete not able to recognize that his best days are behind him.

Owens' assessment to ESPN was indeed correct:

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"I only need one team...I only need one chance."

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Frankly, if I had to guess, I would say that he'll get that chance. But one way or the other, what we saw on Tuesday was a great athlete desperately trying to hang on.