Terrell Owens, Playoffs and Winning

Terrell Owens Released

With the release of Terrell Owens by the Dallas Cowboys yesterday, the NFL is ablaze with the discussion of who should sign him. The general consensus is that he is simply too productive and too good not to be signed. The thinking is that since he is one of, if not the, best WR in the league, then he is a valuable component in a teams ultimate goal: winning games. This is attractive despite the considerable baggage that he brings. Many fans, pundits and those in the media will point out that Terrell Owens can lead a team to the promised land. Namely, an appearance in the Super Bowl. Their logic for this is the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles, which played the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX, where Owens had a productive game.

Injured

However, those people are missing a critical piece of data when using that 2004 Eagles as an example: Terrell Owens was injured for the games leading up to the Super Bowl. Given that the Eagles lost the Super Bowl and Owens had a decent receiving game ( 9 receptions for 122 yds, but not TDs ), the Eagles playoff success that year should really be attributed to Donavan McNabb and the Eagles defense.

Losing

In fact, when we look back at the playoff record of T.O., we see an interesting trend. T.O. led teams are 0-4 since 2003, 2-7 in their last 9 games and 4-7 overall. Since being traded to the Eagles in 2004, when T.O. has played in a playoff game, his teams have lost every game. The last playoff win occurred in the Wild Card round in 2003, when T.O. was on the 49ers.

Baggage

Despite being a productive WR, T.O. brings baggage to each and every team he comes in contact with. In addition to the numerous on field antics, his antics have caused considerable turmoil off the field. This includes getting into altercations during games and questioning the talent of every QB he has played with, despite playing with 3 Pro Bowl QBs.

In addition to burning bridges at San Francisco, Philadelphia and Dallas, Owens was briefly traded to Baltimore in 2004. Despite wanting to leave San Francisco in 2004, a misstep by Owens agent allowed San Francisco to retain his rights. This angered Owens, who believe he was a free agent and had negotiated a new contract with the Eagles. Owens proceeded to rail against Baltimore as an undesired destination, in part because of the lack of what he felt was a good QB. After hearing this, Baltimore no longer wanted Owens either. San Francisco, Baltimore and Philadelphia eventually reached an agreement, but not before Owens wore out his welcome with yet another team, one that he never even played a game for.

Worth The Risk?

That’s 3 teams in 13 years, including 2 in the last 5 years who wanted to rid themselves of Owens despite his production. He has stated that he would like to go to a team with a “great QB”. However, he has already has 3 Pro-Bowl QBs throwing to him and it seems to have not made him happy. Is Owens a good pickup ? It would be hard to argue that he turns a team into a Super Bowl contender, simply because, as we’ve seen, his teams don’t win in the playoffs. Not all of those losses can be blamed totally on T.O. However, it can provide some validation that winning requires more than a single player of as skilled as T.O. That, combined with the considerable baggage he brings and the strain he puts on a teams locker room and it’s difficult to see how a team can convince themselves that picking him up is a smart move. Despite his talent, he seems to ruin the chemistry of any team he’s on, reducing a teams overall chance at winning

One could argue that, at this rate, Owens, who turned 35 in December, does not have many years left and he’d still like to win a Super Bowl. He could rededicate himself to being a good teammate and sacrifice his own personal gain for the good of a team. Something that similarly troubled WR Randy Moss has attempted to do in New England. However, this would be a pretty big change because, simply put, T.O. has displayed a consistent and unwavering pattern of putting himself first and his team a distant second.