T.O.: Asshat Or Just Misunderstood?

[MajorMike]

He puts himself in that position; no one MAKES him open his stupid yap. He desreves every pile of poo he steps into.

[FromWayDowntown]

His complaint that he's not used like a #1 receiver is absolute garbage.

The Cowboys attempted 506 passes during the 2006 NFL season. According to the stats site referenced above, Owens was the target on 152 of those passes. So, on 30.0% of the Cowboys pass attempts, the ball was directed at Me First. Of course, Me First led the league in drops -- a fact attributable, at least in part, to the fact that he had so many opportunities to catch the ball in the first place.

Hearing him talk, you'd think that other top-flight receivers must be getting the ball thrown at them upwards of 35% of the time. But that's not even remotely true.

Of the 20 most frequent targets in the league during 2006, Me First was behind only 4 receivers in terms of the percentage of his team's passes that were thrown with him as the apparent target:

34.1 -- Andre Johnson
31.8 -- Lee Evans
30.9 -- Laveranues Coles
30.2 -- Torry Holt
30.0 -- ME FIRST
29.1 -- Chad Johnson
27.9 -- Anquan Boldin
27.8 -- Javon Walker
27.3 -- Donald Driver
26.6 -- Marvin Harrison
26.3 -- Joey Galloway
26.1 -- Chris Chambers
25.8 -- Steve Smith
25.3 -- Roy Williams
25.2 -- T.J. Houshmandzadeh
24.6 -- Reggie Wayne
24.5 -- Mike Furrey
24.1 -- Hines Ward
23.7 -- Keyshawn Johnson
21.3 -- Isaac Bruce

That's with Me First having missed a substantial portion of at least one game, too. A few extra throws his way in the 2nd half of the first Washington game and he's probably 3rd or 4th.

Certainly, there are other things that go into using a player like a #1 receiver, but it's awfully difficult to understand his complaints when the statistics show that he had plenty of opportunities to make plays -- more than just about any receiver in the league.

[mardigan]

And of that list, only Andre and Holt were thrown too more times, he tied with Boldin. But in his defense, he was right, Parcells bogged down the whole offense. Maybe he didnt trust Romo, or maybe he just wasnt a good play caller, but he didnt consistintly put our players in positions to suceed. With that said, we still had 2 recievers with 1000 yards, a tight end with almost 800 yards, a 1000 yard rusher and the NFC leader in td rushes, so how much better could the offense get? Not much, we need to improve the d. I do think Parcells playcalling lost the playoff game way before Romo dropped that snap though. Good riddance, he was just a name that brought in some talented players that he couldnt get the best out of. At least TO produced, and some of the drops have to be attributed to the hand injuries

[Vinnie_Johnson]

His complaint that he's not used like a #1 receiver is absolute garbage.

Where did he say that? He said he was not used THE right way. He is dead right about that too. TO is a catch the ball and run WR he needs the ball short stuff offen he can break tackles and make big plays. TO is not the classic go deep guy.

[stretch]

Where did he say that? He said he was not used THE right way. He is dead right about that too. TO is a catch the ball and run WR he needs the ball short stuff offen he can break tackles and make big plays. TO is not the classic go deep guy.

agreed. his main game is catch and run. then that opens up a lot of other opportunities for deep balls for both himself and other recievers. and i still think Dallas should have been throwing to him more, despite the stats that were just pulled up. if Dallas wants to go deep in the playoffs, he is the key. he is the best football player on that team, and he can singlehandedly win games for them. and while he did have a lot of drops this year too, i will give him the benefit of the doubt, because he broke his hand, and he still was able to be one of the most productive WRs in the league. i think next year, he will have a monster year, if they use him more and correctly. especially after having more time to build a rapport with Romo.

[FromWayDowntown]

Where did he say that? He said he was not used THE right way. He is dead right about that too. TO is a catch the ball and run WR he needs the ball short stuff offen he can break tackles and make big plays. TO is not the classic go deep guy.

That's been his complaint all year -- that the Cowboys have a #1 receiver (him), but aren't using him that way; that they aren't getting him the ball enough -- that he can't make a difference if they don't get him the ball.

I'm tired of it. I thought Terrell Owens was overrated when he was in Philadelphia. That team was good before he got there, it was good while he was there, and it has been good after he left. Reaching Super Bowl XXXIX is irrelevant, because T.O. had nothing to do with that team winning the playoff games it won to reach that Super Bowl.

T.O. is a tremendous athlete and a good football player, but he's not the biggest difference maker on the field in the NFL or even at the wide receiver position in the NFL. He's mostly a lot of noise; noise that is loudest when the team is doing well and he's not in the headlines. He's the ultimate Me First guy in a sport that demands team play.

[Bob Lanier]

Overrated and misunderstood.

[Vinnie_Johnson]

That's been his complaint all year -- that the Cowboys have a #1 receiver (him), but aren't using him that way; that they aren't getting him the ball enough -- that he can't make a difference if they don't get him the ball.

I'm tired of it. I thought Terrell Owens was overrated when he was in Philadelphia. That team was good before he got there, it was good while he was there, and it has been good after he left. Reaching Super Bowl XXXIX is irrelevant, because T.O. had nothing to do with that team winning the playoff games it won to reach that Super Bowl.

T.O. is a tremendous athlete and a good football player, but he's not the biggest difference maker on the field in the NFL or even at the wide receiver position in the NFL. He's mostly a lot of noise; noise that is loudest when the team is doing well and he's not in the headlines. He's the ultimate Me First guy in a sport that demands team play.

That's funny I read and follow the Boys and have not heard the words you used. I have heard that he wants to be involved early in games. If you have a link I have not seen it.

[Fabbs]

He puts himself in that position; no one MAKES him open his stupid yap. He desreves every pile of poo he steps into.

[ALVAREZ6]

asshat.

[RealEstateDude]

He banged the wrong guy's wife so he will forever be hated by the media, the media of, "We Hate TO's Mother ing Guts Putos!!!"

But everything he said was true, the Tuna should've retired last year or became GM...

[Vinnie_Johnson]

When I talked to [Parcells] for the first time we left an impression on each other. I still think he is a great guy. But he is like my grandmother. You love the person, but they are stuck in their old-school ways. You can't move them from their way of thought," Owens told the newspaper.



Does that sound like a slam to you? not to me.



"I think that by him saying that I need to get on the practice field and I that I needed to show him what I can do, I just felt him knowing the type of player that I am and what I've done to play through injuries I felt like he kind of made a mockery out of me in front of the media to say that," Owens said. "In that sense I kind of lost a sense of respect. But other than that I didn't allow it to deter me of how I practiced because I was seriously injur



Not here either. Anyone remember Larry Allen in Bp first season? Bp did the same thing then. Larry and BP had to come to an agreement the following year.



I'll be the first to say that I didn't play as well as I should have. And you guys can talk about me all you want, it's really not going to change who I am as a person or a player," Owens said. "But I never said one time anything about my broken hand, anything about the torn tendon in my finger that I played thoughout the course of the year with."



Sounds like he took blame for his season as well.

[mardigan]

I agree with Vinnie, if any other player on the team had said this it would be nothing, he was just speaking his mind, and any time he does that because he is TO it gets totally blown out of proportion. I also heard him say on a radio show today that he wanted to win a Superbowl for Parcells to send him out on top, he loves Dallas as a city and a team, and thinks they will be very good next year. The only reason he is a spectacle is because he speaks his mind to much, and the media desperately needs him to be so they have something to wright about. The seasons 2 weeks over and they are still talking just about him. As for me, I will be waiting for another 1000 yards and 12+ tds next year.

[Holmes_Fans]

According to Tony Romo he has been the best teammate the past few weeks, he is still in contact with him and didn't abandon him after the last game.

[mardigan]

I saw that interview as well, Romo seems to love the guy and portrays him as a great teamate, as did Marcus Spears and Bradie James yesterday on the hot list