TO

On Super Bowl Sunday and in the wake of his falling short in the HOF balloting, it's worth remembering what Terrell Owens did in Super Bowl XXXIX.

As Mike Florio notes,

At times, Owens was indeed disruptive, for various reasons. But did Owens really make his teams worse? He returned from a broken ankle to be arguably the best player on the field in Super Bowl XXXIX, and the Eagles lost that game to the Patriots not because of anything T.O. did but despite an effort that everyone who was paying attention recognized as heroic and memorable.

 

Only after the Eagles refused to acknowledge those contributions with a contract providing him greater compensation and protections did he decide to provoke a trade or release in 2005. Was it an ill-advised, selfish move? Yes, but it was compelled by a system that allows teams to rip up contracts when a player underperforms but prevents players from doing the same when they overdeliver.

 

A decade later, media and fans seem to better understand that, when players choose to act like owners, players shouldn't automatically be vilified the way Owens was.

First off, Owens was outstanding vs. the Patriots. He led the team in receptions (9) and yards (122). And he did it on a broken ankle.

But the behavior of Jeffrey Lurie and his management team may even be worse than what Florio blandly describes. There are rumors that TO asked to have his contract guaranteed before the game so that if he reinjured himself - playing as he was on a not fully healed broken ankle - he would be taken care of. Lurie et. al said no. TO played anyway, and played great. It was this refusal and the realization that TO's big numbered contract was actually not as lucrative nor as long as he thought  prompted him to try to renegotiate it after the Super Bowl.

I recall it being clear at the time that TO's contract was very team-friendly and a heap of abuse was dumped on TO for wanting to re-do a year after he signed it. Florio is right that fans are more savvy about player contracts than at that time and (slightly) more understanding of player efforts to renegotiate. Where TO lost the fans (and his teammates) was with the disruptive way he went about sabotaging the team on the field and in the locker room as a reprisal.