bubba9497
May-13th-2007, 12:17 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=mosley_matt&id=2868802
T.O. steals the show
IRVING, Texas -- Depending on who you listen to, Terrell Owens may or may not have practiced with a prosthetic ring finger on the first day of the Cowboys' mandatory minicamp Saturday.
Only two days after new head coach Wade Phillips indicated Owens would sit this minicamp out, there he was catching passes from quarterbacks Tony Romo and Brad Johnson. Team officials had suggested the mercurial wide receiver, who has undergone two recent surgeries on the tendon in his right ring finger, might not be ready until training camp.
T.O. had a more optimistic timetable, but no one expected to see him participate in a full practice this soon.
Moments after the first of two practices Saturday, almost all the 62 credentialed members of the media surrounded Cowboys owner-general manager Jerry Jones for an explanation. At least one reporter demanded to know how Owens' presence Saturday could impact the season.
Other than asking two reporters whether they'd seen "Spider-Man 3" yet (wait for the DVD!), T.O. didn't have anything to say after practice. He walked into the amphitheater that also serves as his locker, gathered a change of clothes and fled toward the equipment room.
In what amounted to a low-budget chase scene, five reporters were in hot pursuit until Cowboys public relations chief Rich Dalrymple intervened.
Later, Phillips, who seemed amused by the scene, said, "I don't want this to be the whole T.O. show here."
Good luck with that, Wade.
The truth is that T.O. has been remarkably quiet this offseason. He didn't even respond publicly to a report that he had misplaced his 2006 playbook and forgotten to look for it.
To know T.O. is to misunderstand him. One of his greatest strengths is being delusional enough to always find someone else at fault. And don't knock this approach until you've tried it.
I've been able to forge as good a relationship with T.O. as his bodyguard will allow, but I still haven't figured him out. He has this terrible habit of always saying what's on his mind, which makes him one of the most coachable quotes in the history of sports.
The one thing you can't question, though, is his willingness to compete.
T.O. should be commended for playing through pain last season. Did his injury cause him to lead the league in drops? I would say it at least contributed to the gaudy number (17 in the regular season, one in the postseason).
Jones, who told us last season that T.O. sacrificed his future for the team, said Saturday that we didn't get to know the real T.O.
"There were extraneous things that no one could have anticipated," he told me. "They were so extreme that I don't think we'll have that type of year again."
Jones thinks T.O.'s return may have been about putting his best foot forward with the new regime.
"It is important to T.O. that he has a good relationship with the people he works with," Jones said with a straight face. "He could have easily sat out today and no one would have blamed him."
Late last season, I was pretty sure Jones was ready to cut ties with T.O., but Saturday he dismissed that idea.
"I never once considered him not being on this team," Jones said while using his index finger to drive home the point.
So a day that was supposed to be about the rookies and a new head coach was dominated by T.O. Surely, no one was that surprised.
Please join us again Monday for more on T.O.'s miraculous minicamp.
T.O. steals the show
IRVING, Texas -- Depending on who you listen to, Terrell Owens may or may not have practiced with a prosthetic ring finger on the first day of the Cowboys' mandatory minicamp Saturday.
Only two days after new head coach Wade Phillips indicated Owens would sit this minicamp out, there he was catching passes from quarterbacks Tony Romo and Brad Johnson. Team officials had suggested the mercurial wide receiver, who has undergone two recent surgeries on the tendon in his right ring finger, might not be ready until training camp.
T.O. had a more optimistic timetable, but no one expected to see him participate in a full practice this soon.
Moments after the first of two practices Saturday, almost all the 62 credentialed members of the media surrounded Cowboys owner-general manager Jerry Jones for an explanation. At least one reporter demanded to know how Owens' presence Saturday could impact the season.
Other than asking two reporters whether they'd seen "Spider-Man 3" yet (wait for the DVD!), T.O. didn't have anything to say after practice. He walked into the amphitheater that also serves as his locker, gathered a change of clothes and fled toward the equipment room.
In what amounted to a low-budget chase scene, five reporters were in hot pursuit until Cowboys public relations chief Rich Dalrymple intervened.
Later, Phillips, who seemed amused by the scene, said, "I don't want this to be the whole T.O. show here."
Good luck with that, Wade.
The truth is that T.O. has been remarkably quiet this offseason. He didn't even respond publicly to a report that he had misplaced his 2006 playbook and forgotten to look for it.
To know T.O. is to misunderstand him. One of his greatest strengths is being delusional enough to always find someone else at fault. And don't knock this approach until you've tried it.
I've been able to forge as good a relationship with T.O. as his bodyguard will allow, but I still haven't figured him out. He has this terrible habit of always saying what's on his mind, which makes him one of the most coachable quotes in the history of sports.
The one thing you can't question, though, is his willingness to compete.
T.O. should be commended for playing through pain last season. Did his injury cause him to lead the league in drops? I would say it at least contributed to the gaudy number (17 in the regular season, one in the postseason).
Jones, who told us last season that T.O. sacrificed his future for the team, said Saturday that we didn't get to know the real T.O.
"There were extraneous things that no one could have anticipated," he told me. "They were so extreme that I don't think we'll have that type of year again."
Jones thinks T.O.'s return may have been about putting his best foot forward with the new regime.
"It is important to T.O. that he has a good relationship with the people he works with," Jones said with a straight face. "He could have easily sat out today and no one would have blamed him."
Late last season, I was pretty sure Jones was ready to cut ties with T.O., but Saturday he dismissed that idea.
"I never once considered him not being on this team," Jones said while using his index finger to drive home the point.
So a day that was supposed to be about the rookies and a new head coach was dominated by T.O. Surely, no one was that surprised.
Please join us again Monday for more on T.O.'s miraculous minicamp.