The ego has landed as Owens ‘joins’ Hall of Fame
The wide receiver stages his own award ceremony after being first player to snub official induction, reports Ben Coles
‘It makes him appear small and vindictive against the people who mean so little in his world’
Afive-word sound bite, shouted while staring down the camera which always seemed to find him, embodied the NFL career of Terrell Owens. “I love me some me.”
No position in sport arguably nourishes big egos more than that of wide receiver in American football, and Owens – or T.O. as he is commonly known – possessed more swagger throughout his 14-year career than perhaps anyone in the history of the sport.
Skip Bayless, one of the more outspoken sporting voices in the US media, with a Trumpian penchant for derogatory nicknames, labelled Owens as “T.O. – Team Obliterator”. His departure from the 49ers after eight years nearly required an arbitrator to settle a contract dispute.
Then a public feud with his quarterback at the Eagles, Donovan Mcnabb, resulted in Owens being deactivated for the remainder of the 2005 season. Last weekend, Owens was inducted into the Pro Football Players’ Hall of Fame, which is based in Canton, Ohio.
Traditionally, each year’s inductees walk out onto a stage wearing their new gold jacket in front of family, friends and supporters, unveil a bronze bust of their likeness at the peak of their powers, and then give an emotional speech.
Inevitably, perhaps, Owens was different. While the rest of this year’s chosen new additions – Bobby Beathard, Robert Brazile, Jerry Kramer, Brian Dawkins, Ray Lewis, Randy Moss and Brian Urlacher – were all present at Canton for one of the greatest moments of their lives, Owens was 540 miles south at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, his alma mater.
He became the first inductee to the Hall of Fame who chose not to show up.
Owens became eligible for induction in 2016 but was overlooked, and again last year. He felt slighted by the voters, made up of 48 NFL sportswriters, believing they had focused on his off-field antics over his on-field performance.
You can understand his frustration. Owens ranks second in history for the most receiving yards, behind only the great Jerry Rice, and third for the most receiving touchdowns. Given that standing, his rejection over the past two years seemed unusual.
Owens claimed that by holding his own ceremony in Chattanooga, he was protesting against the selection process, given the length of time it had taken for both himself and many others, including Kramer, now 81 and a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Packers in the 1960s, to finally be inducted.
Perhaps I am being cynical, but that explanation feels a little convenient.
Peter King, the NFL’S sportswriting titan for the past 30 years and one of the 48 voters, had a more succinct take in his Monday column.
“I do not understand how boycotting the ceremony – because of his anger against people who are not his family, who are not peers, who are not his team-mates, who are not his new team-mates in the Hall of Fame – does anything for Owens other than making him appear forever small and vindictive, and vindictive against people who mean so little in his world.”
Owens’s name was not mentioned once during the official ceremony and there was no unveiling of his bust at Canton, in response to his decision not to attend.
Meanwhile, in Chattanooga, a voice yelled out from the crowd. “I love you T.O.” Owens looked up, and smiled. “I love you, too,” he replied, before adding: “But I love me more.”