A spectacular crash

Has an athlete, not just a Philly player, been so high and crashed so spectacularly as Owens in the 18 months he's been here?

He was the long-awaited stud WR that turbo-charged last year's offense.

He was the faith healing ankle mender who made it back onto the field in six weeks and played against doctors orders.

He was a freakin' warrior in the Super Bowl, definitely coming to play, even if it was on one good leg/ankle.

If the Eagles had won the Super Bowl, Owens would have owned Philadelphia for longer than Dick Vermeil.

Alas, they didn't, and he won't.

soon after came the contract complaints and the incredible reserve of regional goodwill evaporated very, very quickly.

He's been digging himself a bigger hole every month, or every time he opened his mouth.

The wonder is why he didn't shut up and just play. If he had been a loyal teammate and produced even half of what he is capable of he would have put the Eagles into a corner by facing the public wrath of waiving him or paying him the $5 million signing bonus due in March. Owens, but more inexplicably the savvy and shrewd Drew Rosenhaus, should have realized that once the $5 million was paid the Eagles were committed to him for the long term lest they take the salary cap hit. and that would have meant some balloon-payment type base salaries in the out years. Shut up and play and he would have gotten his money. But they decided that was too long term and wanted an immediate renegotiation. Bad move. And it's now going to have longer term financial consequences for TO. He's now a bad teammate on two different teams. Who's going to risk a big investment in him now?

Such a shame, such a pity.