Category: General Sports (Page 98 of 112)

As reported earlier, there was a story out of Dallas that Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens apparently tried to commit suicide by taking 35 pain pills Tuesday night.

When the story first broke, there was information that Owens’ publicist, Kim Etheredge, called a rescue service after physically taking pills out of Owens’ mouth. When the rescue team reached the scene, they assisted Owens and then called the Dallas Police Department.

At some point, Owens was asked if he took the pills with intent to harm himself and Owens responded, “yes.” From there, Owens was rushed to the hospital and the ingested pills were reportedly pumped out of him.

It was also reported that Etheredge told the police “that he was depressed.”

From there, Ethridge has told various media outlets in interviews that the Dallas media has gotten the story wrong and that T.O. never attempted to kill himself. ESPN.com’s Michael A. Smith told ESPN’s Trey Wingo on SportsCenter that he spoke with one of Owens’ friends (who wanted to remain anonymous) that T.O. just had a bad reaction to the pain pills. As publicly reported, Owens is a gym rat who takes various amounts of health supplements, so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that T.O. did get sick when the pain pills were added to his normal dietary intake.

In a 3:35pm press conference on Wednesday afternoon, T.O. himself spoke out on the situation and denied repeatedly that he took pills to kill himself. Owens also stated that he wasn’t coherent when he was asked if he took the pills to harm himself and that he only took a few pain pills (he commented that the rest of the pills from the empty bottle was in a drawer). He also said that he never got his stomach pumped.

Etheredge then spoke and basically (in my opinion) sounded exactly like a publicist would sound. She stated that “he is a very strong human being” so that when he wasn’t responding like he normally does, she immediately called 911. Etheredge also responded to questions as if she was disappointed that the story broke the way it did and that she feels like “people are trying to take advantage of Terrell.” Etheredge went on to deny that she removed pills out of his mouth and that Owens told her that he was depressed. However, she also made it known that “it has been a really long day” and that “she doesn’t remember everything that happened.”

Her best statement of the day: “Terrell has 25 million reasons why he should be alive.”

Now, I’m not a doctor, psychologist and I obviously wasn’t there when Owens digested these pills. It appeared to me that Owens was in fine health and he stated that he worked out with Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo, so I believe him at this point. It didn’t appear that Owens was lying, but that doesn’t mean that Etheredge’s story isn’t full of holes.

It just amazes me that the Dallas police and fire department would make written statements as detailed as they did and Etheredge comes out and states that they basically lied. What advantage does the police and, or fire department have in lying in that given situation?

The thing about all of this is that, there have been several reports in the past of him telling teammates that he is alone and that “nobody has his back”. It has been reported that he has abandonment issues and that both the 49ers and Eagles offered to get him psychological help, which he refused.

Maybe he’s telling the truth, but if he’s not and Etheredge is hiding something (maybe more will come out once the 911 call is revealed), that means that this guy is not getting the help he needs.

As far as a football standpoint is concerned, Owens may practice tomorrow and if he does, there is a good chance he will play in Tennessee this Sunday.

Dallas coach Bill Parcells held his weekly press conference about an hour and a half before Owens spoke, but he revealed nothing, stating that he “didn’t know enough at this point.”

A Dallas police report was released Wednesday stating that Dallas Cowboys’ wide receiver Terrell Owens attempted suicide Tuesday night.

Apparently Owens told Dallas police and rescue workers “that he was depressed.”
The rescue worker “noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth,” the police report said.

The worker attempted to pry them out with her fingers, then was told by Owens that before this incident he’d taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he’d emptied. The worker then asked Owens “if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, ‘Yes.'”

Owens got the pills after he fractured a bone in his hand the Cowboys victory over the Redskins in week two.

The craziest thing about all of this is that Cowboys coach Bill Parcells stated earlier this week that Owens might have had a chance to play this weekend against Tennessee. Now this comes out?

Parcells released a statement this morning that Owens was having stomach problems due to the medication, but mentioned that it was more of a bad reaction – not a suicide attempt.

For as much public debate as Owens receives because of his antics and actions, obviously this goes beyond the football field. Owens needs help and I’m not saying that to be condescending in any way.

Sadly what comes to mind is how media hungry and desperate for attention this guy always is. If by some sick way this was all for attention – than he needs help more than any of us could ever imagine.

Either way he doesn’t need to be anywhere near a football field, because the game is secondary to his health right now. This man is in serious need of some help and hopefully the NFL and Dallas Cowboys take the necessary arrangements to get him that support.

This guy is in serious pain right nowm, but none of us can really say what he is going through in particular. I don’t know what he grew up with, how is life is now and what he believes is in his future.

I just wish him the best and hopefully he can get himself healthy again.

The contender/pretender picture is starting to get a little clearer after three weeks in the NFL, but of course there is still a lot of football to be played.

Rest assured that if your team is anything but 0-3 or the Oakland Raiders – you have a shot to see your squad playing in Miami in a couple of months.

Here is a look at the class and trash with nothing in between after Week 3:

1. Indianapolis Colts (3-0)
Previous Rank: 1
Hard fought win for Tony Dungy’s squad against division rival Jacksonville. As mentioned in the intro, however, this team has some glaring weaknesses. The Colts rank in the bottom half of the league in both rushing and stopping the run – not necessarily a good combination for a Super Bowl contender. Peyton Manning throwing for 750 yards a quarter doesn’t hurt at this point in the season though, and he’ll carry this team throughout the regular season.

2. Cincinnati Bengals (3-0)
Previous Rank: 2
The Bengals were dominated in virtually every aspect of the game last week in Pittsburgh, but it doesn’t matter – they won. Cincinnati got its annoying monkey off of its back once again and made Ben Roethlisberger look just as bad as he did in Jacksonville. Despite during their best Portland Trailblazer impersonation with the number of convicts they employ – the Bengals are tough and playing solid defensively.

3. Seattle Seahawks (3-0)
Previous Rank: 4
Once again a team falls to the Madden curse – what an impressive, consistent jinx that no player can escape from. Reigning MVP Shaun Alexander will be out several weeks with a broken bone in his foot and now Maurice Morris takes over in the Seahawks backfield. Call me crazy, but with the success in which Seattle throws the ball and how much Mike Holmgren likes Morris, I think the Seahawks are going to be just fine. They are virtually unbeatable at home, but going into Chicago on Sunday night will be a true test of how good this team can recover from setbacks (something they didn’t endure that much last season).

4. Chicago Bears (3-0)
Previous Rank: 5
They had every chance to lose to Minnesota on Sunday, but the Bears didn’t. They didn’t fold on offense – something they have been prone to doing over the years – and still played stiff defense on the road. As noted above, the Bears will have a great advantage of getting Seattle at home this weekend. The Seahawks will gamble a lot on defense to get the game-changing turnover, so if Rex Grossman can stay out of Seattle’s danger zones, he can have a lot of success against a unit that is ranked 22nd in the league.

5. Baltimore Ravens (3-0)
Previous Rank: 3
This is the only team that fell in the rankings after a win. Once again the Ravens defense saves a game, but the Browns really exposed how bad Baltimore’s passing attack could be. If it wasn’t for WR Derrick Mason going after balls like a child possessed, Steve McNair looks less than ordinary. I’ve got a hunch that the San Diego Chargers will be sitting in this spot come next weekend after their tilt in Baltimore this Sunday.

28. Detroit Lions (0-3)
Previous Week: Unranked
I’ve been giving these guys the benefit of the doubt after watching them hang with Seattle – but not after getting shredded once again by Brett Favre for the better part of nine decades. If Favre quarterbacked Nicholls State he would beat the Lions.

29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-3)
Previous Week: Unranked
How ironic is Chris Simms’ injury in Tampa? I don’t want to make light of the situation, because the kid is as tough as a dog’s chew toy after playing an entire half with a ruptured organ. But, last year Brian Greise goes down for the count and Simms takes over for the Bucs and leads the team to a division title. I’m not saying lightening will strike twice, but Jon Gruden has raved about former Toledo stud Bruce Gradkowski and gets a week off to prepare the kid before heading into the most dangerous situation known to man – New Orleans (seriously, who wants to play there after what the Saints did to Atlanta Monday night?).

30. Houston Texans (0-3)
Previous Rank: 30
Amazing how QB David Carr is one of the best (statically speaking) quarterbacks in the league right now and Houston is still winless. The Texans are just plain awful defensively. They can’t stop the pass, can’t stop the run and I’m not even sure if they could burn toast right now. Mario Williams watch – eight tackles, no interceptions and continuously wishing that Reggie Bush never existed.

31. Tennessee Titans (0-3)
Previous Rank: 31
Tennessee actually played pretty tough in Miami last weekend. Though, I don’t know if that had more to do with the Titans or the Dolphins just showing the rest of the free world that they aren’t quite there yet. Jeff Fisher has said that he will stick with QB Kerry Collins and not turn the keys of the car over to rookie Vince Young yet. I guess that isn’t a bad idea with a tough Dallas defense on the schedule this weekend.

32. Oakland Raiders (0-2)
Previous Rank: 32
Congratulations Oakland – your problems are right where you left them.