Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged an Ode to T.O.

When you bring in a talented player, your primary goal is to get great play from them. But in almost every case you are also expecting the ancillory benefit of them elevating the play of others around them. In fact, sometimes that IS the goal of bringing in a player. How does a WR in particular elevate the play of others? By drawing double coverage, thus taking coverage away from another teammate, allowing them an easier time of making plays. You think TJ Housh didnt benefit from having Chad Johnson being double covered nearly every play? Do you remeber the miserable failure Alvin Harper was when he went to Tampa (I think) and didnt have Michael Irvin drawing double coverage every play? Another way a WR can elevate the play of his teammates is by working hard in practice, in the film room, during the off season. By mentoring younger players. By setting an example. TO, by all accounts, did ALL of these things. And many of the other receivers followed his example. The problem was that part of the example he set was not being a team first player. And that was starting to filter down to the other players that looked up to him. One of my favorite TO lines was, “I love me some me!” And while it was funny as hell, we are starting to have players who all love them some them. Will the offense suffer without TO out there? Time will ultimately tell but I wouldnt argue at all that that will very likely be the case. Especially at first.
You said, “If his talent was never in question and he scored double digit TD’s and 1,000 receiving yards what more do you want?” Well I’ll tell you what I want. I want that and I want it from someone who doesnt turn around a gripe that he didnt have 1100 yards receiving and 20+ TDs. I want someone who produces like Fitz, Andre Johnson, Marvin Harrison (4 years ago) and then thanks his teammates afterwards for blocking and running and catching and allowing him to get what he got. Not someone who gets the ball thrown to him 18 times in one game and complains that it wasnt 19 times. That’s what I want.
One more observation. Aside from the overly talked about “benefits” of getting rid of TO, I think this will not only give other players a chance to step up and show what, if anything, they can do, it will also let us know exactly what kind of coach we have in JG. Is he the boy genius we all hope he is, or is he “just another coach”. JG has a wonderful chance to prove his critics wrong by adapting and customizing this offense to play to the strengths of the players he has without the need to feed giant egos. I’d like to know that before we hand the reins to him in another year or two.

He did his job…
(1) He was a team player despite what the media might say, pay attention to his teammates…not the media.
True there may have been a few players that didn’t agree with his tactics (most importantly Romo grew tired of them thus
affecting his play), but for the most part they will all say he was a great teammate.
(2) How much double coverage can you draw and give the other recievers one on one, but yet they still can’t catch the ball.
The media always talked about how many dropped passes he had, I’m sure if you did a pass for pass evaluation, Patrick
Creyton had more drops than T.O. and his drops were when he was W I D E open. Austin and Stanback can’t stay healthy,
and Hurd is still developing in his third year.
(3) Not only should his double teams have opened other WRs, but running lanes should have been a little easier with the added
attention T.O. received. T.O. can’t elevate the OLs play. If he yelled and got on their A$$ for not blocking, the media would see
it as him complaining and being disgruntled…

T.O. was in a no win situation with the media unless he played all world AND won a Super Bowl…actually he was in the same
situation with a lot of the fans also.

He was the most productive and consistent WR we have had since Irvin…
The only thing to really say now is …WHO’S NEXT UP TO BE THAT BIG WR THREAT WE NEED?

T.O. I will miss you if no one else will.

Have you ever played a team sport in your life?

If so, you wouldn’t be asking how a teammate is supposed to contribute beyond his production.

My friend, that is the beauty of team sports. Look at the last two Super Bowl champs. No one would call them the most talented teams, but together, they were much greater than the sum of their parts when it counted most.

How many playoff games did Owens win not in Dallas?

I’m not hating, I’m just saying…you really don’t think there isn’t any reasons to get rid of him?

I’m not denying that his production will be hard to replicate, but not impossible.

I don’t work in football, I’m not an expert, just a fan.

But when you see 31 other teams that are showing very little interest in a hall of fame receiver, that raises a red flag.

Whether its personality issues or just the fact that he’s going to be a 36 year old receiver who doesn’t run great routes, there has to be a reason.

I’ve said it a million times, I wasn’t with or against the get rid of T.O. campaign.

But “ode’s to terrel owens”? Give me a freaking break.

It’s always somebody elses fault apparently. One player gets canned from three teams, but its the QB’s, OC’s, WR Coaches, Head Coaches, or whomevers fault.

Owens as bad as the media portrays him? Nope

But he isn’t the golden god you have set him up to be either.

Really you talk about his drive and passion to win, but isn’t he the same guy who called out his coaching staff after WINNING in Washington.

TO loves to win, but he wants to have stats and win.

I’m not saying it’s his fault that they didn’t win those playoff games, but he sure as hell hasn’t put Dallas over the top.