Sports Gospel- Eagles call it a season

[mark_chalifoux]

Sports Gospel

Eagles call it a season

11/8
Full Article

[Ishkur]

What is TO's problem?

No, seriously.....what IS his problem? You roll out the red carpet, he complains it's not red enough. I just don't get what his malfunction is. It's like there's not enough controversy or drama in his life, so he has to manufacture some all the time. Well, I got the perfect antidote for that:

Send him to the CFL. That'll humble-ize him.

[BtownJay]

The thing is, the Eagles and Andy Reid NEEDED to sign Owens. Not him exactly, but someone with his playmaking ability. They were getting killed by the local media and upper management for not having a wide receiver that can be a difference maker. They were getting blasted for not doing what everyone thought was something the team needed.

Then, TO basically fell into their laps when he was saying that he WANTED to play for the Eagles with a QB like McNabb. When a player with his talent and ability is basically begging to play for your team, it can cloud your judgement with images of superbowl rings. Andy had found his way out... his way out of all the negative voices he had been hearing. TO actually wanted to be there, so he won't be a problem.

Think back to training camp 2004. Think back to the interviews with TO and McNabb joking around and being so lovey-dovey with each other. They were in perfect harmony with each other and couldn't wait for the season to get started. They were both saying "they were happy they finally had each other". TO had proven everyone wrong, he had shown everyone he is a team player and can get along with his teammates and management.

All the sudden TO breaks his leg. The regular season is over for him, and the post season should be out of the question. However, TO works harder than anyone can imagine to get himself back into shape to be able to hobble onto the field to help the team in the Super Bowl. Everyone is amazed by the effort he displayed for the team. Owens was a changed man in Philly, the 49ers were wrong about the type of person he was. Maybe they were the ones to blame, not TO.

Something happened in that not so magical offseason after the superbowl loss. TO suddenly changed and demanded more money and was not happy with D-mac and the team. Was the whole season of 2004 just a big set up, scheme to try to get even more money? Did he know the contract he signed wasn't going to be good enough so he would work the system anyway he could to get more money? Like Mark asked can this whole NFL thing just really only be about business to him? Was playing in the superbowl more about making TO look better or to help the team win?

Should the Eagles have seen this coming? Maybe. But if they had won that superbowl last season because of the incredible game Owens had, would anyone be all that worried about the current situation? He would have given the city, team and players what they wanted by signing him in the first place.

[jtg33]

Originally Posted by BtownJay

Something happened in that not so magical offseason after the superbowl loss. TO suddenly changed and demanded more money and was not happy with D-mac and the team.

I believe that sudden change was more or less a direct result of him hiring Drew Rosenhaus to be his new agent.

[BtownJay]

Originally Posted by jtg33

I believe that sudden change was more or less a direct result of him hiring Drew Rosenhaus to be his new agent.

Did he not have Drew prior to signing with the Eagles? If not, then you may be on to something... i just assumed that Drew was with Owens through the Baltimore mess. I don't really follow player agents that much.

[jtg33]

Nope. He fired his old agent following the 2004 season and hired Rosenhaus to renegotiate his contract with the Eagles because it wasn't very fair to only give him $48.97 million. He was probably just worried about feeding his family, and perhaps wanted a clothing stipend so he could buy a nice suit.