all-encompassingly

the philadelphia eagles’ donovan mcnabb and terrell owens make up one of the most exciting duos in the NFL. owens is averaging more than 1 receiving TD per game and the eagles are undefeated.

owens is also known as one cocky mofo. there’s the time he pulled the sharpie out of his sock after scoring, and signed the ball with it. i think the league fined him for that. there’s the time he ripped a fan’s sign off an endzone wall, and the time he asked a cheerleader for her pom-poms so he could use them in his TD dance. then last week, after scoring an impressive touchdown against ray lewis’ baltimore ravens, he mimicked the LB’s signature dance. big whoop. it was hilarious.

i like terrell owens. sure, he’s got an attitude. but there’s nothing wrong with that. he’s good. he’s also harmless. the guys that strangle their coaches are the ones you’ve got to keep an eye on. but, for some reason, everybody goes after TO.

steelers LB joey porter came out in support of owens with some remarks to a reporter on tuesday.

Porter, who also has feuded with Lewis, sounded a favorite T.O theme in Tuesday’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: other players celebrate flamboyantly, and some of them have even had off-the-field issues, which Owens hasn’t, yet few are as widely reviled as T.O. In Lewis’ case, those off-the-field issues include that agreement to plead guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of justice and testify against two of his friends after a double-murder at an Atlanta-area nightclub in January 2000.

“It’s fine for this guy to celebrate, but it’s not fine for this guy,” Porter was quoted as saying. “It’s good for this guy to be creative, but it’s not good for this guy. Why isn’t it funny when Terrell does the pom-poms? You guys can make who the good guys are. The media has total control over that.

“…But this guy [Lewis] just comes off a murder case and he comes back dancing and goes to the Super Bowl and you love every minute about it. He gets a 4-minute introduction when he comes out. They absolutely go crazy for it. He makes a tackle, he dances every play and you guys love it. Terrell scores a touchdown and he does his celebration and, for some reason, you guys just choose, ‘We don’t like you. You aren’t one of the guys we pick.’ I never thought it was fair.”

This was music to T.O.’s diamond-studded ears. Owens has puzzled over his lack of endorsements and the league’s apparent reluctance to market him.

“I’m obviously not one of those who are a face of the NFL that they’re going to have on commercials…It’s discouraging at times that I get labeled and put in that same mold and that I’m the worst guy that ever put on a uniform in the NFL,” he said. “It’s funny, it really is. I listen to all the comments and at times, it baffles me.

“I’ve never had any off-field problems. I’ve wanted to say it for a long time, but since Joey put it out there, you have a guy like Ray Lewis, who I thought was pretty much my friend. This is a guy, double-murder case, and he could have been in jail, but it seems like the league embraces a guy like that. I’m going out scoring touchdowns and having fun, but I’m the bad guy. So I don’t understand it, I really don’t.

- – - – - snip – - – - -

In an instance of art imitating life, or something like that, Owens’ words quickly made it to ESPN yesterday evening, with a panel of analysts that included ex-Eagle Mike Golic expressing sympathy for Lewis and condemning Owens for bringing up the murder business. ESPN also read a statement from the Ravens, who thought they’d traded for Owens’ rights last March, then were forced to accept a fifth-round draft choice instead when the NFL brokered a trade to the Eagles. “Like the rest of the NFL community, we would expect nothing less from Terrell Owens,” the statement said.

Then, on ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption,” Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon found rare agreement, bashing Owens for bringing up Lewis’ brush with the law. [article]

i first heard terrell owens’ comments on ESPN the other day. they struck me as well-reasoned and appropriate. i watch sportscenter often, and the anchors do speak condescendingly about him. however, a few years ago, another talented, controversial egomaniac, deion sanders, was the marketing savior of both the NFL and MLB. anybody remember him attacking broadcaster, tim mccarver, in the braves’ locker room? tim mccarver is a buffoon, and he deserved it, of course. but terrell owens has never done anything like that, and he’s treated like he’s done much worse. i’m glad terrell owens and joey porter said what they did.

despite what everyone says, i completely agree with TO. all the people who condemn him for bringing up ray lewis’ crime are about as smart as the butter i put on my toast this morning. and infinitely more hypocritical. why didn’t baltimore issue a statement about joey porter’s comments? why didn’t he get flack for what he said? the answer: because people just don’t like TO. this conspiracy is even more obvious than rush limbaugh’s black QB conspiracy from last season.

pittsburgh and philadelphia, two of the NFL’s hottest teams, face each other this week. terrell owens is sure to continue to upset ESPN by having too much fun.