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Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Tampa Bay
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Originally Posted by Griff0rd  I am so tired of hearing about this guy... just kick him out of the country and be done with the fool... yes he is an above avergae wr, but he is not even one of the top 5 in the league and he is getting all of this attention... It's disgusting. |
huh? He leads the nfl with touchdowns for wr. And it is not his fault you keep hearing about him. If he farts, the media will be all over it. I am sick of the media. By Todd Archer IRVING -- As Terrell Owens walked into the Child Life Center at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children on Monday morning, he was surrounded by little boys and girls wanting his autograph and asking for a picture during the Cowboys' annual holiday visit.
Owens joked with the kids and offered words of encouragement to two boys who were going to have surgery later that day.
Arround the same time in New York, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had decided to fine Owens $35,000 for spitting on Atlanta conerback DeAngelo Hall during Saturday night's game.
Asked by reporters during the hospital visit about the incident and what he would say to the kids who looked at him as a role model, Owens said, "Everybody makes mistakes. Be accountable, and keep moving forward."
Former Cowboys conerback Deion Sanders on Monday set up a three-way phone conversation so Owens could apologize to Hall.
"We talked about it," Owens said. "I expressed it wasn't anything intentional, and that's basically where we left it. I just want to express to the media and people on the outside it's not going to escalate to anything more than what it is. And I think a lot of people are thinking that, and it's not going to be that."
Owens said he did not expect to be fined, adding that he did not intentionally spit on Hall. He called the league's action unprecedented.
"When it happened, we were jawwing in each other's face, so it wasn't anything intentional," Owens said before hearing he had been fined. "He's trying to make it seem like more than what it was by saying I hauled off and spit in his face. I feel like if I spit in his face, teammates on both sides, somebody would've seen it. When I got asked about it on the [NFL Network] show, I was caught off guard by it. I didn't want to get into or elaborate, so I just apologized and kept it moving."
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was not surprised by the fine, which Owens said he will appeal.
"I know the commissioner is making a point of emphasizing the importance of player behavior that takes place before, during and after our ballgames," Jones said. "As an organization, we don't condone any acts that detract from, or take away from, so many of the positives that our games produce."
Bill Parcells said the team could take further action against Owens but, per the collective bargaining agreement, the Cowboys cannot impose their own fine.
Parcells said the team would not announce a further penalty if it chooses to take action.
The fine greatly exceeds the fines doled out for recent spitting incidents. During a playoff game last season, Washington safety Sean Taylor was ejected and later fined $17,000 for spitting at Tampa Bay Running back Michael Pittman. In 1997, Denver linebacker Bill Romanowski was fined $7,500 for spitting on San Francisco receiver J.J. Stokes.
Owens said he understands the outcry from the public regarding the spitting incident.
"At the same time, there are a number of times you get into a heated conversation with people," he said. "I was kind of aggravated with him during the course of the game when you're talking back and forth at each other. I have a mouthpiece and an Invisalign [invisible braces] so it's easy to kind of spit at someone when you're talking back and forth."
The $35,000 represents roughly 12 percent of Owens' weekly pay of $294,117. It's the largest penalty given to a Cowboy since safety Darren Woodson was fined $75,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Seattle receiver Darrell Jackson, but that was Woodson's third fine-drawing hit of 2002.
The punishment falls in line with the penalties Goodell has levied since taking over for Paul Tagliabue in September.
"I think Commissioner Goodell is trying to take strong action on some of this stuff," Parcells said. "All you've got to do is see that Knicks' game the other night. ...This [behavior] is dangerous stuff ... I do think you see a lot of things in sports today that you wish weren't a part of it for an old-fashioned guy like me."
Parcells has attempted to defuse the Owens stories all season.
"I've tried to make it a habit not to talk too much about him," Parcells said. " ... I just try to get the player to play to his potential on the field. That what my job is."
Staff Writer Calvin Watkins contributed to this report.
The Dallas Morning News -- SportsDay -- Tuesday, December 19, 2006 |