TOo Late

If only only Owens' contrite and somewhat sincere sounding apology had been issued Friday or Saturday, instead of Tuesday.

Too little, too late.

What a shame. TO is an awesome, AWESOME, wide receiver. But, alas, he is a world class jerk as a teammate. I actually feel bad for TO. Of course, I feel worse for the Eagles who have lost a gamebreaking playmaker whom they desperately could use as they try to stagger into the playoffs.

So many questions, and still so much speculation.

Where the hell has Rosenhaus been? It took him till today to get up to Philly and try to put out the conflagration that was TO's flameout with the Eagles? Where was he three days ago when this might have been salvageable. And by salvageable, i mean salvageable from TO's perspective. Had he apologized on Friday like he did today he would likely still be on the team. Maybe the team wouldn't have been happy, but he would be getting paid.

I guess the turmoil TO caused in the locker room was much, much greater than anyone realized. Not even the obvious stuff, like the Hugh Douglas altercation, but the slow, steady, and subtle undermining of the franchise QB and team leader, #5, and the divisiveness and egg shells players must have been walking on to avoid provoking the petulant Owens.

What the hell was Stephen Smith thinking when he wrote the ridiculous and nonsensical column on Sunday, "This Time, Owens' Isn't the Bad Guy," in which he absolved Owens, McNabb and everybody else but the Eagles management (aka whitey) for the latest Owens debacle.

How in the world did Team TO decide that giving anymore interviews on ESPN was going to be in any way helpful to TO's cause? Again, where was Rosenhaus? Did TO reject or ignore advice in this matter?

TO cost himself a lot of money. not just the fine and perhaps the recouping of the signing bonus, but what team in their right mind is going to commit big bucks to a ticking time bomb. He's going to be paid year to year. No big signing bonuses that can be amortized over several years. It means that in addition to a team willing to take the risk on him, it must also be a team that has enough cap room to sign him to a $5 million 2006 salary.

TO is not going to the Falcons. After torching Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb, what team in their right mind would allow him anywhere near a) a young, developing QB or b) a franchise QB in which you've invested your future? Mike Vick is both of those things. Plus, remember, the head coach is Jim Mora, Jr - San Fran's D coordinator when TO ripped that team apart.

What did Andy Reid see in the Redskins game that made him feel comfortable enough to sever ties with TO in mid-season. As Peter King reported on his site Monday,

"At 12:11 a.m. on Monday, Reid ducked out of his office and into the Eagles' somber locker room after their 17-10 loss to the Redskins. He went over to McNabb and said, "Come on and see me.'' He led McNabb, who played quite well on Sunday night (except for the blown spike play at the end of the first half and the interception on fourth down in the final minute of the game) to his office and closed the door. They stayed in the inner-sanctum for four minutes and McNabb came out smiling."

What did Reid see that gave him the impetus to jettison Owens? Reggie Brown's play? G. Lew? Just a more smoothly functioning offense? What

So many questions.