DFW: Eagles' owner says signing T.O. was big mistake

[tr1]

Hmmm....where do I begin...

Read the next to last paragraph...I think he's been visiting ES.

WIRE REPORTS
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/15187801.htm

Now that Terrell Owens is gone from Philadelphia, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie says it was a mistake to sign the outspoken wide receiver.

"I would not do it again," Lurie said Wednesday in his annual state-of-the-team address. "You look back on it -- one year great, the second year a disaster. Nobody should be able to be as disruptive and really cut the energy of the team down.

"I think we all learned from that."

During his first year in Philadelphia, Owens helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl. But he was a major disruption throughout last season. The Eagles endured a dismal, injury-plagued 6-10 season, and Owens' tenure in Philadelphia ended bitterly.

He signed on with the Cowboys, one of the Eagles' main rivals in the NFC East.

"If you don't have the chemistry, the talent and the help, with high-character people, you're not going to survive those downturns in the middle of the season," Lurie said.

However, Lurie won't let the Owens experiment make him more cautious.

"I'll always try to be aggressive and take risks and be willing to make mistakes," he said. "Yet at the same time when we're in the draft room or approaching free agency or picking up players or trading for players, character is probably No. 1.

"If you don't get past the character test, the teamwork test, you're not going to be on the Philadelphia Eagles."

Here's a better link to a more detailed story...

[Tom [Giants fan]]

Yeah, I'm sure TO won't have a response to this.

[tr1]

Yeah, I'm sure TO won't have a response to this.

The thought had crossed my mind.

The pukes ought to ban reporters' microphones at practice today...

In reading the second, longer article, Lurie comes off as a guy saying, "who'd have guessed he'd be so disruptive." That's such a lame tact. TO had the reputation well before he went to the Eagles.

What Lurie learned is that prima donna players with talent, short of running afoul of laws and NFL rules, can verbally tear his team up in the press and void even the most stict of contracts with little or no consequences.

You can't regulate behavior in contracts...when players have that much accumulated cash, some talent and a healthy ego, no team is a match, especially if others are begging the player to work for them.

The NFL loves TO.

[The Animal Trainer]

The MEDIA loves T.O. Its actually a pretty sick relationship...T.O. thinks the media is using him, but he's trying to promote himself through the media, the media wants T.O. to make some type of mind boggling, crazy, off the wall story happen so they can sell it and T.O. knows this. Therefore T.O. gives them just enough to keep all eyes on T.O. kind of hints that he might just go berzerk in the next few moments, so keep the cameras rolling...just long enough for him to plug his book. The whole thing makes me sick. I'm just glad the media circus is in dallas trying to keep up with all that foolishness. My daily ESPN T.O. story could be summed up on the bottomline each day with, "Newsflash: T.O. still doesn't know how to act." Then I wouldn't have to hear him or look at him and say it to myself.

[McMetal]

Well, I have a lot more respect for Lurie for having said this...he's already done something no Eagles fan is capable of - admitting the team made a mistake.

You almost have to wonder if the Eagles will keep dropping these little nuggets during the course of the season, just to mess with TO's head and wind him up, thereby creating more problems for Dallas. It's not a bad idea really...crafty gamesmanship.

[ouvan59]

The MEDIA loves T.O. Its actually a pretty sick relationship...T.O. thinks the media is using him, but he's trying to promote himself through the media, the media wants T.O. to make some type of mind boggling, crazy, off the wall story happen so they can sell it and T.O. knows this. Therefore T.O. gives them just enough to keep all eyes on T.O. kind of hints that he might just go berzerk in the next few moments, so keep the cameras rolling...just long enough for him to plug his book. The whole thing makes me sick. I'm just glad the media circus is in dallas trying to keep up with all that foolishness. My daily ESPN T.O. story could be summed up on the bottomline each day with, "Newsflash: T.O. still doesn't know how to act." Then I wouldn't have to hear him or look at him and say it to myself.

Yep, as much as the media loves to talk about how much they lovethe professional guys that just go out and do their jobs with no self-promotion, it's the guys like TO and Michael Irvin that they really love because they make their jobs easier. In the end, guys like Art Monk are left out in the cold.

[JoeSkins]

I don't know if the Eagles really made that bad of a deal when they traded for Owens. In hindsight, it didn't work out, but for the time he was on the field he made that team, and Donovan McNabb, better. I don't think the Eagles are at fault for the messy divorce, at least no more so than Owens is.

Edit: Scratch that, Owens' agents are at fault too. First not checking the box to make him a FA, and then negotiating a deal that they didn't like anymore a year later.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I don't know if the Eagles really made that bad of a deal when they traded for Owens. In hindsight, it didn't work out, but for the time he was on the field he made that team, and Donovan McNabb, better. I don't think the Eagles are at fault for the messy divorce, at least no more so than Owens is.

Edit: Scratch that, Owens' agents are at fault too. First not checking the box to make him a FA, and then negotiating a deal that they didn't like anymore a year later.

I think you're right.

Basically, Lurie is saying it wasn't worth it to have the great 2004 season if they knew what it would do to 2005. Well, duh, no one would make the deal in hindsight. Unfortunately, Lurie didn't have a crystal ball when he signed TO.

It was a good deal at the time IMO.

[JetSkins]

like they would have gotten to the super bowl without him

[Warhead36]

I swear to god if I could just go one day without hearing the letters T.O. I could die a happy man...

[bubba9497]

Yeah, I'm sure TO won't have a response to this.

he'll blame McNabb, and somehow he'll make it sound like he was the victim in all this

[bubba9497]

I swear to god if I could just go one day without hearing the letters T.O. I could die a happy man...

TO & the press won't let that happen.

Listen to ESPN, it's the NTOFL

[dallasfanforlife]

TO & the press won't let that happen.

Listen to ESPN, it's the NTOFL

well your his number one fan, so you should be in hog heaven (sorta speak).......you would have much less things to talk about without TO, so enjoy it...........

[JoeSkins]

I swear to god if I could just go one day without hearing the letters T.O. I could die a happy man...

That's why I call him Owens and not T.O.

[tr1]

well your his number one fan, so you should be in hog heaven (sorta speak).......you would have much less things to talk about without TO, so enjoy it...........

I love TO.

I love that he's a Cowboy.

TO helps keep me informed about the pukes.

I'm dying to see what happens when Dallas and Philly first meet on Oct 8th. It's a late game, and we'll have just beat the Giants ( ).

The drama will be awesome.

The irony is that McNabb won't get close to TO until one or the other seeks the other out.

Perhaps the NFL will dream something up to get them within punching distance.