Football Fans Awaiting Word, Due Tuesday, on Owens Arbitration Hearing
The soap opera known as The Terrell Owens Story continues, with the petulant, yet ultra-talented wide receiver waiting to hear whether an arbitrator will instruct the Philadelphia Eagles to reinstate him or release him to play for another team this season.
After a marathon session that lasted nearly 14 hours, Richard Bloch, the man assigned to hear the grievance between Owens and the Eagles Friday, is expected to deliver his decision Tuesday. Owens is arguing that the four-game suspension and plan to deactivate him for the duration of the 2005 season is an excessive penalty, while the Eagles deem Owens’ behavior and public criticisms of quarterback Donovan McNabb as conduct detrimental to the team.
The latest T.O. trouble occurred three weeks ago when Owens got into a fight with former Eagles Hugh Douglas, who now works as a team ambassador. After the fight, Owens, who had made some critical comments of McNabb’s season during a televised ESPN interview shortly before the fight, was suspended indefinitely by Reid.
Sonny Hill, a Philadelphia sports legend, stated in a recent interview that people should not have been surprised by Owens’ actions, since he rocked the boat so during his time in San Francisco.
“You knew who Terrell Owens was before he got here,” Hill said, comparing last year's acquisition of Owens by the Super Bowl-hungry Eagles to the team selling its soul to the devil.
“He is basically the same person he was when he was causing disturbances with the San Francisco 49ers,” Hill said of Owens, who was extremely critical of then-San Francisco quarterback Jeff Garcia, going as far as to question his s*xuality.
While Owens has never been in the type of trouble that other athletes find themselves in, such as substance abuse or domestic violence, he did cause waves with his “me first” personality. After scoring a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys one year, he stood on the famed blue star of Texas Stadium, a sign of disrespect to the Cowboys organization. In a game against the Seattle Seahawks, Owens pulled a Sharpie pen out of his shoe and signed a football after scoring a touchdown, a move that began a plethora of scoring celebrations that were deemed innovative to some and classless to others.
In the end, it wasn’t Owens' celebrations that caused his relationship with the Eagles to sour, but rather the insistence of him and then-new agent Drew Rosenhaus to make their demands of a new contract public and Owens' continually fraying relationship with McNabb, who vocally pushed for the Eagles to sign Owens when he became a free agent in 2004.
An Associated Press report said the proceedings, which ended shortly before midnight, began with three hours of opening arguments followed by eight hours of testimony from the Eagles and the NFL Players Association. Andy Reid, head coach and general manager of the Eagles, reportedly sat on the stand for a cross examination by NFLPA counsel Richard Berthelson that lasted four hours.
The NFLPA is supporting Owens, saying that the collective bargaining agreement does not give a team the authority to implement such punishment. The NFLPA is asking Bloch to reinstate Owens, whose four-game suspension and deactivation was announced by Reid on November 7. If the reinstate is not enforced, the players’ association is asking for Owens immediate release so that he can possibly suit up for another team this year.
If Bloch rules in Owens' favor, the Eagles would likely have to grant Owens access to the team facility to practice, but they could not be forced to play him. In keeping Owens out of action, the Eagles would still be responsible for paying Owens a little more than $200,000 for each of the season’s six remaining games. The team is rumored, however, to be seeking to recoup almost $2 million of a $9 million signing bonus Owens received last year. The Eagles claim Owens violated terms of the contract by not attending a team camp earlier this year.
It’s been a wild year for the Eagles, who after four consecutive attempts, finally made it to the Super Bowl last February. The acquisition of Owens, who arrived in 2004 after a tumultuous career with the San Francisco 49ers, was a major reason, many believe, that the Eagles finally made it over the hump. While the team lost to the New England Patriots, 24-21, it was a foregone conclusion that, with Owens and McNabb teaming up again, the team would cruise to Super Bowl XL, which will be played in Detroit on February 5.
But Owens, with Rosenhaus by his side, began publicly demanding a new contract last spring. He openly criticized McNabb’s Super Bowl performance and was even sent home from training camp in August, a move that led to Owens inviting media and fans to his New Jersey mansion while he worked out.
Kenneth Shropshire is a business professor at the University of Pennsylvania and president of the Sports Lawyer Association, the first black to hold this position. Shropshire stated in a recent interview that Owens’ plan of attack may not have been the best way to go about doing business with the Eagles.
“You have to know who your opponent is, and the Eagles organization is not one that traditionally responds to this kind of action,” Shropshire said. “[The team] usually responds to confidential conversations behind closed doors. Most teams believe that is a wise way to operate.”
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Monday, November 21st 2005 at 12:18PM
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