Terrell Owens And The Hall of Fame
I have a weird internal conflict regarding Seahawks Legend Terrell Owens and the Hall of Fame.
One one hand, my left hand, my imprecise hand that generally does some things sort of when it needs to, is the biased, selfish, judgmental fan. That hand hates Terrell Owens and is full of joy and laughter watching him get snubbed for the second year in a row and likely for the foreseeable future. I hated Terrell Owens. He was a huge, showboating dick who burned bridges and played for the Eagles and Cowboys and called Jeff Garcia gay for no reason. I don’t know if he invented the concept of the “Diva Receiver”, but he certainly perfected it and stands as the golden example which all others shall be judged.
On the other hand, my right hand, my good, precise, talented and correct hand, Terrell Owens is a Hall of Famer and it’s kind of crap that bitter sportswriters can’t see past their own grudge against him, when it’s really their job to look at it more objectively than the average fan. I’m the average fan, and I can get over it. So should they. Owens is a Hall of Famer and really, I think everyone knows it, but the people who have the power to vote need to flex their muscles just to be petty.
Owens is Top 3 all time in receiving touchdowns at 153. Nobody else active is close enough for that to be in any danger. He’s number 2 all time in receiving yardage. The next closest active player is Larry Fitz, who stands at over 1,500 less. He’s #8 all time in receptions. It doesn’t really matter if you like him or not, Terrell Owens is a Hall of Famer. Yeah, he never won a ring, and yeah, he was a cancerous bridge burning dickhole, but to my knowledge he’s not a criminal or anything and some criminals are in. He also seems like a guy who might have some personal demons we don’t really know, since all we the public saw was his football antics, so maybe jumping immediately into the hate bandwagon shouldn’t be our response. My hatred for him came mostly from a place of rival team hatred.
I’ve reached the point in my sports fandom that I now realize the sports world needs personalities like Owens and I think football is greater for it. We need a heel, it makes it fun to see the heel go down. Owens played the heel perfectly, and he played the game of football brilliantly, and stuck up old sports writers need to accept that he should be in Canton. He was certainly a better choice than Terrell Davis, who had a pretty good 4 seasons and died. If HoF enshrinement is about numbers and legacy, Owens has the numbers locked up and his legacy, while turbulent, is notable. He should go into the Hall as one of the greatest heels, as the greatest diva, because in some ways, his actions have left a much bigger legacy than many people already in. Terrell Owens is van important figure in Football Lore, which I’ve always personally found a vital piece to why someone deserves the Hall.
It’s going to be a firestorm next year when Randy Moss gets in and Owens doesn’t. Randy was also a dick, but he’s spent his retired years being cozy with the media and making everyone like him again. That’s basically the one difference. Randy did the backstage politicizing Owens has not. If Randy isn’t a first ballot I’ll be shocked and find everyone who didn’t vote for him and punch them in the face.
Also yes, this is in the Hall of Fame
But TO is not
i certainly hope the Future House of Eli replaces that giant football on top with a giant popsicle
I would love to see TO go in as a Seahawk instead of a 49er. That would make my day.
…Am I missing something?
Why is Elway a tag for this comic?
Elway’s #7 shirt is in the middle of the 3rd row, it’s the display one of the PC guys is pissing on.
Orange suit pisses on case that has Elway (7) Jersey
as a relative nfl neophyte, can someone please explain using a car analogy why orange suit is pissing on elway’s jersey?
He probably doesn’t like horse-faced John Elway
‘Rages with adventurous appeal’
Maybe he was being judged on how terrible of a “teammate” he was. Stats are good but he was toxic to whatever team he was on. His TD dance on the Cowboys’ star is 1st ballot hof worthy, but not his diva form.
The HoF couldn’t afford this kind of security, unless us Stark County taxpayers paid for it, since Tom Benson Stadium is still in Renovation
They were paid by Peter King, not the HoF.
Based on his numbers, he should be in. However I think his negative effects on locker rooms is understated.
Dave, you compare him to Randy Moss. I have a friend who worked with a lot of NFL players in a non-football related function (i.e. not a biased media guy) and a few years back I sort of suggested the same to him. He told me that while Moss is a bit of a weird guy who had his bad moments, TO was perennial locker room cancer wherever he went. It’s just that the number of high-profile incidents that became public is not THAT much more than those of other players considered divas, but he’s heard from many players TO was borderline unbearable on a persistent basis.
I think this will keep him out for a while until enough time passes that the lingering negativity among league circles fades some.
First of all, I kind of like the “HOF membership is determined in the field rule”.
I like it, because I don’t want people arguing some day if a player belongs in the HOF depending on whether or not they voted for Trump. I also don’t want people retroactively arguing whether some player belongs in the HOF, in response to evolving morals (like in college campuses, where activists have taken to criticize founders according to modern values, rather than those prevalent at their time).
However, TO poses a particular challenge. TO did not have problems with the law that I know of, which would clearly fall in the “none of my business, that is off the field behavior”.
His problems were in the locker room. His problems were so acute, that at some point all of his teams concluded that his talent and production didn’t compensate for the aggravation.
Think about that for a little while. In a league that treats Ray Lewis as a hero, and in which players like Hardy get second chances, TO was considered too much of a pain, which leads to the question: How much of a pain in the ass do you have to be in the locker room, for a team to decide that your HOF production in the field is not worth it?
I have given up trying to convince myself whether TO belongs, or not, in the HOF.
The best I can offer is this: If they let him in, I’ll be ok with it. If they don’t, I’ll be ok with it too.
a comment with this level of reasonableness does not belong on the internets
You mean BILLS legend, Dave. You know we gave him the key to the city when he signed here.
Did you just really say say SEAHAWK LEGEND?!?!
Those two preseason games with the Seahawks are really where his best work shines through.
TO is clearly a Bengals legend
I remember that. Chad Johnson did everything in his power to bring TO in, only for him to basically kill his career.
And then Chad Johnson became a hard knocks legend
I can’t find the quote nowadays. Just putting the name ‘Owens’ into google or bing brings back nothing but reams and reams of people talking about the HOF snub. Anywho- there was a doctor on the 49ers staff that gave Owens a psychological exam during the pre-draft scouting process. He told the 49ers that Owens would (paraphrasing) : “Never have any issue with women, drugs, or guns. He’ll never get in trouble with the law. He might have issues being a teammate because he is all about his own personal advancement.”
Disturbingly prescient, if my memory is not apocryphal.
+200 nerd cred for correct use and spelling of prescient and apocryphal, +100 bonus for using both in the same sentence
“Never have any issue with women, drugs, or guns. He’ll never get in trouble with the law. He might have issues being a teammate because he is all about his own personal advancement.”
This statement right here almost perfectly describes Darelle Revis. The only difference between Revis and Owens is Revis only had about 5 good years (2009,10,11,12,14) and actually did get a Ring (when he signed with NE for a year) also he does have a criminal record now… Revis however is still being talked about as shoe-in hall of famer, despite the fact that his whole career was also about personal advancement (hold outs ect…)
I will be extremely shocked if the media types snubbed him.
I have no doubt that TO was a diva and had some locker room issues but I think that some of his legendary reputation as a jerk was built by a sports media that loved reporting on his volatile ass. Voting him into the HOF would be like the ultimate admission that they were wrong.
Firestorm isn’t even Howie Long’s best movie. That’d be Broken Arrow.
Boy, you really nailed the “confusion” look Howie was apparently shooting for on the Firestorm cover in your poster.
I’m disappointed that it is a DVD of Firestorm that is in the Hall. It is a film best experienced on videocassette.
Rages with adventurous appeal.