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Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Falcons might go after T.O.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
They’re all correct. Jesse Jackson. The legal heads of the NFL players association. Anybody who knows that the best thing for Terrell Owens, the league and even the Philadelphia Eagles is for an arbitrator to rule Friday that the penalties T.O. received from his team for flapping his tongue were too harsh. He wasn’t shooting, snorting or sniffing, and he also wasn’t shaving (as in points).
Reinstate the guy after his four-game suspension or let him go.
Just don’t let him go to Atlanta.
Uh-oh. I’m getting these vibes that Owens is closer than you think to catching passes for an NFL team by driving from his home in Lithonia to the Georgia Dome instead of to the airport. And don’t think such a scenario is impossible, just because the Falcons’ current regime has flaunted its love affair with team chemistry during the past two seasons. Things happen, even around here, where pro franchises like to suggest that they are more into the conservative instead of the controversial before having a Michael Jackson moment.
Can you say “John Rocker” and “Isaiah Rider”?
Those who run the Falcons aren’t talking about Owens on the record. They are weary of tampering charges because T.O. remains property of the Eagles. Still, there are so many reasons why Falcons officials could lose their minds and bring the most openly disruptive force for an NFL locker room to Flowery Branch. It begins and ends with this: talent. The man can play, and he does so in extraordinary ways. In case you haven’t noticed, the only extraordinary thing about the Falcons’ wide receivers is how mediocre they are on most days.
We’re back to T.O., as in talent, and talent makes teams do crazy things (see Rocker and Rider). Let’s examine, for instance, what was said by the Falcons before the T.O. muzzle was placed over the organization. You had wide receivers coach George Stewart. We chatted in August after the Eagles kicked Owens out of their training camp for his circus that began after he declared he wanted his contract (a seven-year deal that was barely a year old) renegotiated. “I understand him, because we talk often, and we’ve always had a close relationship,” said Stewart, glowing back then. He joined the Falcons in 2003 after helping Owens become a Pro Bowl regular. In addition, Owens told me this summer how much he respects Stewart, along with Falcons coach Jim Mora and Falcons offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, all working in San Francisco during Owens’ stint with the 49ers.
This is the same Knapp who watched stoically during a 49ers game as Owens stomped and yelled and fumed around the coach for the longest time. Even so, Knapp told the AJC before Owens and the Eagles came to town to start this season, “I could coach [Owens] again. That’s not an issue to me.” Plus, Michael Vick mentioned last week that, under certain conditions, he could function without a problem in the same football universe with Owens.
Yes, this could get interesting. And, no, it doesn’t matter that the older Jim Mora said that he’d disown his son if the Falcons got Owens. We’re back to talent. Soon after Latrell Sprewell wrapped his fingers around the throat of his coach and squeezed, former Hawks general manager Pete Babcock told me he would never have a player like Sprewell on his team. He talked of how he’d prefer to win with character instead of with characters, but you know what? Given the chance, Babcock promptly acquired Rider, an extremely talented but famously troubled soul who was worse in a locker room than a slew of Sprewells.
Then you have a Braves franchise that is into boring. It’s also into winning. That’s why, after Rocker alienated much of the planet with his version of sociology in a national magazine, Braves officials ignored the turmoil he created in their clubhouse and preferred to remember that he could throw really hard.
Neither Rider nor Rocker contributed much to their Atlanta teams in the long run. It’s just that, when pro franchises wish to reach that next level in a hurry, they often suffer from amnesia. Like forgetting that the Eagles and the 49ers got rid of the mighty T.O. for a reason.
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By extension, contracts are no guarantee
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
There is good news for those who believe that Georgia Tech’s football program really did become a ramblin’ wreck after Chan Gailey got his contract extended by five years.
This means nothing.
Interestingly, Tech athletics director Dave Braine said coaching the Yellow Jackets is the third-toughest job in college football behind Army and Notre Dame.
Speaking of Notre Dame …
In December 2000, Notre Dame officials caused this same sort of squealing among their alumni by signing Bob Davie to a five-year extension. He was considered mediocre by many, but after the Irish won their last seven games of that season, Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White felt compelled to “reward” Davie.
The next season, after Notre Dame finished 5-6, Davie was fired.
So much for contract extensions – especially if Gailey losses another couple of games to Georgia, combined with, say, a meltdown next season against a Duke or Wake Forest.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
