I find it ironic that Pacman Jones and Matt Jones currently have jobs, but Terrell Owens is still looking for work.

Think about that for a second. Let it marinade. Let it wash over you.

Pacman Jones is on a National Football League roster, while Terrell Owens is at home watching the 67th rerun of SportsCenter because he can’t find any takers. That’s amazing.

It’s hard to argue that T.O. hasn’t been a distraction over the years for almost every team he’s been with (the Bills last year was the only exception), but he has also never gotten into any real trouble. Not like Pacman or Matt Jones. He’s never tried to make it rain in a strip club. He’s also never been busted for drugs or has gotten into a fight with a bodyguard in a hotel bathroom.

So you can’t tell me that owners or GMs think Owens is that much of a headache not to take a chance on signing. I realize teams might not want to disrupt the chemistry in their locker rooms by bringing in a potential loudmouth like T.O., but that hasn’t stopped wide receiver-needy teams (and there’s no shortage of them every season) from acquiring him before. The fact remains that if a player is talented, some team will take a shot on him.

This is just speculation on my part, but maybe teams put on film of last year and see a washed up player. Blame it on the offense or the Bills’ quarterback struggles, but the bottom line is that T.O. wasn’t effective last year outside of a handful of games. In fact, he was damn near non-existent for the first time in his career.

He has always been in phenomenal shape, but maybe father time has started to catch up with the 36-year-old. Or maybe teams look at him and think, “He could help, but not at the price or the possible penalty of adding his personality to our locker room.”

The Redskins, Titans, Bengals, Ravens, Raiders, Seahawks and Panthers are all candidates for T.O. this season. But will any of them bite? It’s hard to believe that he won’t latch on with some team before the regular season, but he’s gone this long without receiving an offer, so maybe teams believe they have better options already on their roster.

Granted, teams might be waiting for training camp to get into full swing before making any roster decisions, but it doesn’t make it any less puzzling why Owens still can’t find a home.

Beat writer Allen Wilson of the Buffalo News says the chances of Terrell Owens returning to the Bills are very slim.

“It was awesome,” Owens said. “I don’t know if I could have dreamed of a better reception than any city that I’ve played in. The initial signing there, getting a key to the city, I couldn’t have dreamed of a better moment.”

Owens was not asked about his future in football, a topic a lot of Bills fans are interested in. If you took a poll around town, the vote probably would be strongly in favor of his return. T.O. said after the past season that he wouldn’t rule it out, but the chances of him wearing a Bills uniform in 2010 is very slim.

Outside of Chad Ocho Cinco suggesting that he’ll wind up in Cincinnati, T.O.’s name has not surfaced much this offseason. Granted, the free agency period hasn’t even begun yet, but usually there are at least rumblings about a team or two being interested. It’s been naddy for T.O. so far.

Whether it was the offensive system or the lack of quarterback play, Owens wasn’t productive in Buffalo last year. He’ll probably have to accept another one-year contract based on his age and declining skills but where that will be is anyone’s guess.

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]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2010/02/24/is-anybody-interested-in-t-o/feed/ 0 http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/09/29/t-o-feels-that-media-is-trying-to-stir-things-up/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/09/29/t-o-feels-that-media-is-trying-to-stir-things-up/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:14:52 +0000 Anthony Stalter http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=25401

In an interview for the radio program the “Two Live Stews,” Bills wideout Terrell Owens said that he believes the media is trying to stir things up in Buffalo by twisting around what he says.

From ESPN.com:

“It really just shows you the angle that the media has taken all these years,” Owens said during the interview. “Over the years I’ve always kind of spoken openly about whatever is being asked with my answers, so the last four or five years I’ve kind of noticed that and tried taking some steps to prevent some of those things from happening.

“But [Sunday] as you saw, it was obviously … [the media] took some more than initiative to try to get me to kind of go down the wrong path. I know the last two teams that I’ve been on, I felt like I left those teams prematurely due to media interviews that I’ve done and things kind of taken out of context and they created sort of a media whirlwind in the locker room and things kind of went downhill from there. I’m just trying to do the best job I can do as far as answering the questions and trying to be a better teammate and not try to throw people under the bus.”

During his news conference on Sunday after the Bills loss — in which his streak of 185 consecutive games with a reception was snapped — Owens was repeatedly asked about his lack of involvement in the team’s offense.

“Just going with the plays that are called,” Owens replied repeatedly to those questions. “Whether I like them or don’t, I’m just going with the plays that are called.”

He admitted some frustration with the lack of pass attempts downfield — “We had some chances to go down the field and we didn’t,” he said — but he sidestepped a question about whether the Bills and quarterback Trent Edwards are looking enough to the team’s top receivers.

“No, I don’t want to answer that,” Owens said Sunday. “I don’t want to answer that, because whatever I say you guys are going to turn it to however you want to say it.”

I heard Owens’ press conference following the Bills’ loss to the Saints on Sunday and the media was definitely trying to get him to say something controversial. They repeatedly asked him questions in an attempt to get him riled up and when he didn’t take the bait, they pushed harder.

That said, I have zero empathy for T.O. in this situation because he brought this on himself. Had he not thrown multiple teammates under the bus and not taken such a me-first attitude throughout his career, then the Buffalo media wouldn’t be trying to conjure up a story. He thinks just because he’s been on good behavior in Buffalo that all of a sudden the media is just going to forget everything he’s done and said in the past.

Sorry T.O., but you’re not getting off that easy.

Now that Terrell Owens is in Buffalo, he’s putting what happened in Dallas behind him and moving on.

Just kidding – he’s making sure that everyone knows he wasn’t to blame for his release in the Big D.

Via Rotoworld:

Terrell Owens is blaming Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and quarterback Tony Romo for running him out of Dallas.

Answering a fan who said he was unhappy that T.O. left Dallas, Owens tweeted: “Neither ws i, blame the OC & romo!! but i’m happy 2 b where i am but i miss the other guys tht were & r true teammates!!”

That’s pretty impressive that T.O. managed to blame both Jason Garrett (the “OC” Owens’ is referring to in his tweet) and Tony Romo in the characters allotted to send a tweet. And might I add, I think it’s great that we’ve become a nation that has found a way to shrink the written word down to only letters to convey a message. Only in today’s society can we look at “ws i” and know that the person writing the message meant “was I.” Awesome.

Getting back on topic, I wouldn’t be totally surprised if both Garrett and Romo did play a part in T.O.’s demise in Dallas. But Owens didn’t help himself by constantly trying to disrupt the chemistry in the locker room and bitching at Garrett that he wasn’t getting the ball enough. In the end, there were many factors that led to Owens getting the boot. But what’s great (and when I say great, I mean infuriating) about T.O. is that he never points the finger at himself. It’s always someone else’s fault.

The NFL released the 2009 NFL Schedule today, so I’ll do what the 4,000 other websites do and list some of the more juicier matchups of the year. (Although in the sake of being at least a little creative, I’ll list one interesting matchup for each of the 17 weeks on the schedule.)

Before we get to the matchups though, let me state for the record that it’s a complete farce that the Cowboys get six nationally televised games next year despite not making the playoffs last season. I guess “America’s Team” opening a brand new stadium is worth major national exposure…six times a year.

Week 1: Bears at Packers, 8:20PM ET
Jay Cutler’s first game in a Bears uniform will be at Lambeau against the rival Packers on Sunday Night Football. How much will John Madden overplay the, “The Bears finally have a quarterback” angle after every pass Cutler completes?

Week 2: Giants at Cowboys, 8:20PM ET
One of the ‘Boys six nationally televised games, Dallas will open up their new stadium against division rival New York on Sunday Night Football. How much will John Madden overplay the, “Tony Romo and Wade Phillips must win now because Jerry Jones built this brand new stadium and he wants a contender” angle?

Week 3: Falcons at Patriots, 1:00PM ET
The over/under on the number of times Matt Ryan is compared to Tom Brady in this game has officially been set at 800,994,990.

Week 4: Chargers at Steelers, 8:20PM ET
AFC Divisional Round rematch in Pittsburgh – let’s see if the Chargers can hold onto the ball for more than 17 seconds in the third quarter unlike the last time these two teams met.

Week 5: Patriots at Broncos, 4:15PM ET
If Bill Belichick shakes Josh McDaniels’ hand at midfield after this game, I’m calling shenanigans on the behalf of Eric Mangini.

Week 6: Bears at Falcons, 8:20PM ET
Here’s hoping the Bears’ secondary figured out that they have to cover the out pattern when that’s the only route Matt Ryan can look for when there’s 11 seconds on the clock and he needs to get his team into field goal range.

Week 7: Cardinals at Giants, 8:20PM ET
Kurt Warner seeks maximum revenge against Eli Manning for taking his starting job in New York in a few years ago. This is also the battle of two goofy (yet loveable) quarterbacks. (Look, I know Warner is a good guy but you have to admit those gloves he wears look ridiculous.)

Week 8: Giants at Eagles, 4:15PM ET
I’d write something humorous about this matchup, but there’s just nothing funny about the NFC East – or Philadelphia fans. People may die…

Week 9: Dolphins at Patriots, 1:00PM ET
The Big Tuna returns to his old stomping grounds in what could be a midseason battle for first place in the AFC East. Unless of course Miami was a fluke last year, Tom Brady re-injuries himself or the Bills and Jets are in first place by a wide margin. But seriously, if those things don’t happen, then this could be a midseason battle for first place in the AFC East.

Week 10: Patriots at Colts, 8:20PM ET
Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning – finally, a forum where fans can debate who the best quarterback is in the NFL. I’m tired of not having the opportunity to discuss who the better quarterback is between Brady and Manning because these two teams never play each other.

Week 11: Chargers at Broncos, 4:15PM ET
Think Ed Hochuli’s crew will be asked to officiate this game?

Week 12: Packers at Lions, 12:30PM ET
Good to see the NFL is still honoring the tradition of keeping Thanksgiving in Detroit. Hopefully this game remains interesting for more than the seven and a half seconds that it was last year when the Titans drubbed the Lions in one of the worst Thanksgiving Day games since Drew Henson and the Cowboys took on Craig Krenzel and the Bears in 2004. (Does anyone remember that game? At one point during that game I actually cursed God for blessing me with vision.)

Week 13: Jets at Bills, 8:20PM ET
T.O. gets his first opportunity to play in front of a national audience in his new city of Buffalo…actually the game is being played in Toronto. Too bad only four people will get the chance to watch it since the game will be on the NFL Network.

Week 14: Panthers at Patriots, 1:00PM ET
Hopefully by this point in the season Tom Brady will be leading the Pats back to the playoffs and Jake Delhomme will have figured out how to get through an entire game without turning the ball over seven times and generally crapping himself. (Side note: There’s no proof that Delhomme has ever crapped himself during a game. I just flat out don’t like him.)

Week 15: Giants at Redskins, 8:30PM ET
Were the guys in charge pissed at the Giants when they were making this schedule? Check out this stretch of games to finish the season: vs. Dallas, vs. Philadelphia, at. Washington, vs. Carolina, at Minnesota. Yikes.

Week 16: Ravens at Steelers, 1:00PM ET
If this game is anything like the three these two teams played last year, we should expect plenty of anger, mass hysteria and controversy.

Week 17: Giants at Vikings, 1:00PM ET
Hey, remember when the Vikings needed to beat the Giants in Week 17 of the season last year in order to get into the playoffs? And they barely did, even though New York played its back ups for most of the game? Well this will be a replay of that game for those that missed it.