Terrell Owens: Arrest Warrant Gives NFL Teams More Reason to Leave T.O. Alone

If a torn ACL and a near-overdose on painkillers weren't enough to put the NFL career of Terrell Owens on ice, then his latest arrest warrant certainly will.

According to TMZ, a California judge has issued a warrant for T.O.'s arrest after the one-time stud receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys, the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals (almost ran out of breath there) failed to appear at a hearing regarding unpaid child support. Owens allegedly owes Monique Reynolds, his "baby mama," thousands of dollars in back payments.

T.O.'s people claim that he attempted to move the court date when he discovered that he could not attend, but that Reynolds refused to allow a change.

Owens had previously petitioned the court to reduce his payments to Reynolds, but had his request denied when he failed to show up for that hearing.

All of which leads me to wonder, what exactly is T.O. so busy with these days that he "can't" make his own court dates? He's not playing football for anyone right now and isn't likely to do so any time soon.

Certainly not after holding a workout in the LA area at which no NFL scouts were present and not after getting passed over by the Oakland Raiders for fellow former Cincy "scrap heaper" TJ Houshmandzadeh.

And if T.O. couldn't get a team to sign him then, after showing that he's still healthy enough to play, despite being 37 and fresh off major knee surgery, then what hope is there that anyone in the NFL will overlook his personal transgressions and physical shortcomings to bring him aboard?

Most teams in the NFL have already resigned themselves to what they have on their rosters now that they've reached the halfway point of the season. Even the league's most desperate teams know full well that adding a player like Owens, who has driven himself and his teammates to distraction at every stop in his career, won't help any, unless he can somehow set his enormous ego aside and learn a full playbook in, say, a week or two.

Which, barring a miracle, is about as likely to happen as you or me getting a call from an NFL team.

Of course, the timing of this latest entanglement, and what it does to diminish his value in the eyes of prospective employers, could hardly have come at a worse time. Owens has already been forthcoming about his financial problems, and clearly needs a job now more than ever to make sure he can support himself and the children that he has seemingly left behind.

Ironic, considering T.O.'s recent attempt to make himself look like a family man and appeal for a place in the NFL while "punking" Stephen A. Smith on national television.

Looks like the joke is on Owens, with the NFL having the last laugh.