Owens flips script, shows his true self at Hall of Fame speech
Matthew Osborne
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. » In his biggest professional moment, Terrell Owens came to flip the script.
In Philadelphia — and everywhere else he played during his 15-year career — he was painted as an arrogant cancer of a teammate.
Owens made it clear Saturday at his Hall of Fame speech that, even if the world saw him as a trouble maker or the guy doing sit-ups in his driveway in Moorestown, N.J., that he was not that guy.
“Despite what people said happened during my time in Philadelphia, those guys in the locker room knew what kind of person I was,” Owens said.
Fellow inductee Brian Dawkins was the only Eagle teammate Owens mentioned by name during the entire event.
“He’s a God-fearing man, I realized that the first time that I met him,” Owens said of Dawkins. “I enjoyed my time with Brian, he was fearless.”
He did praise trainer Rick Buckholder and his staff for getting him ready to play the Super Bowl on a broken leg, one in which he delivered a performance for the ages despite the Birds’ defeat.
But that was it. No mention of any other Eagles. No mention of that famous No. 5 who shall remain nameless, despite his endless love for us all.
In fact, he mentioned only two quarterbacks all day. He praised Steve Young during his speech, then unexpectedly went in on Atlanta’s Matt Ryan during a question about Julio Jones during his presser.
“Ryan would not be half the quarterback that he is without Julio Jones,” Owens said in one of his famous comments that probably sounded harsher than he intended.
But that’s T.O., that’s who he is.
“I’m going to be me,” he said. “I’m not going to do a dog-and-pony show and be fake. I’ve always been true to myself.”
Owens mentioned that his relationship with the media soured when they misconstrued his words to make it sound like he was at war with teammates and other players alike.
But this T.O. was not the guy Eagle and Cowboys fans alike learned to dislike, despite his obvious success on the field.
This speech was mostly given by Terrell, the kid from Alexander City, Ala., and later Chattanooga who loved his family and longed to prove himself.
The theme of his speech was “This Is For You,” a clear message to haters and doubters who questioned why he did not want to play with the other children in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday.
Owens wanted everyone to know that while he loved himself, he gave the credit for his success to others. He acknowledged mistakes, and he admitted his character had been questioned, but he owned it all, for better or worse.
“I like the man I’ve become,” Owens said near the end of his speech. “I’m a man of conviction, a man of faith, a man of integrity and courage.
“I was courageous enough to choose Chattanooga over Canton.”
Owens said he made that choice to affect change in future Hall of Fame selections, but that was not his main focus Saturday.
His event was one giant Southern family reunion, with friends and well wishers giving him multiple standing ovations. His speech was stirring and emotional, and he showed that at 44, he is not the man people expect him to be.
Even if he was not ready to talk about 5 or any other specifics from the Eagle days, he did have one presence in Canton on this special day, that he did his way by his own admission.
On the cover of the program given out at the Hall of Fame Game, he was pictured in his black Eagles jersey.
“The run we had in Philadelphia leading up to the Super Bowl was very special,” he said.
While he may not be a beloved sports figure in Philly now, he made two things clear as it related to that. He always played hard for all his teams, and if you did not like him, that was your problem.
“I played with a chip on my shoulder,” Owens said. “The only thing I could control was the way I played.”
It was that stellar play that got him a gold jacket, even if that came a couple of years later than he desired. This special day in his home away from home closed the book on T.O. As for Terrell?
“My legacy begins today.”