That, at least, might have been understood in the tiny universe of T.O., the one the former wide receiver lives in and no one else seems to penetrate. Owens was so into bowling after his football career was over that he tried to go pro, only to be undone by slippery lane conditions.
Owens was a lot more successful in football, where his numbers were so good he arguably – and Owens argues this most – should have been inducted in Canton in his first year of eligibility. It wasn’t until his third year that Owens was voted in, part of a class that includes, among others, Jerry Kramer, Ray Lewis and fellow wide receiver Randy Moss.
They’ll all be there, slipping on the gold jackets for the first time that signify they’re the best of the best.
Owens probably will get his in the mail.
That’s entirely on T.O., and it’s not entirely surprising. His great numbers always came with great problems, and he’s never been one to forget a slight, perceived or otherwise.
That’s why he’s still engaged in a mostly one-way feud with Donovan McNabb, 13 years after the Philadelphia Eagles lost the 2005 Super Bowl to New England and Owens famously said he ”wasn’t the guy who got tired” in the game.
It’s also why he’s spending the day he should be getting his gold jacket at a ceremony of his own at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he went to college.
Hard to say exactly, but it seems T.O. is not happy with the way the media covered him over his 15-year career. He believes he got a bad rap as a bad teammate, and didn’t get the credit for the things he did on the field for his teams.
And he’s really not happy with being skipped over two years before finally being voted into the hall.
Just T.O. being T.O., a familiar scene to anyone who followed his career. Now Owens can claim a first that may hold a long time – the only living player of the 318 elected to the Hall of Fame who refused to attend his own induction.
”It wasn’t like he had to wait that long Jason Witten Jersey ,” said Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News, who championed Owens cause to his 47 fellow Hall of Fame voters. ”A lot of people have waited a lot longer than three years.”
Owens may not be there to get his jacket, but he’ll still be a Hall of Famer. There will be a T.O. bust, and provisions have been made to send him a jacket.
But he won’t be inducted individually like the others in his class in what should be one of the greatest moments of his life.
His call, yes. But if Owens is trying to make a point, it’s likely to get lost in the fuss being made over those actually in Canton for their inductions.
Then again, this is a player who held a bizarre press conference while working out in his driveway after being suspended for arguing with Eagles coach Andy Reid prior to the 2005 season. Shirtless and doing sit-ups, Owens mostly answered ”no comment” before exasperated writers asked him if he was trying to set a record for offering no comment.
”No comment,” he said.
Wide receivers tend to be a strange breed, even if Owens took it to a new level. Moss, after all, once famously walked off the field with 2 seconds left in a game and his Minnesota Vikings lined up for an onside kick attempt.
Moss will be in Canton on Saturday for his induction, and maybe Owens didn’t want to share the stage with him. Unlike Owens, Moss got in in his first year of eligibility.
A look at the numbers makes the case for Owens, who had a great career playing in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Buffalo and Cincinnati. Moss is second only to Jerry Rice in receiving yards, and third in touchdown catches behind Rice and Moss. He was a six-time Pro Bowl pick Joel Iyiegbuniwe Jersey , and his touchdown celebrations live on in NFL lore.
Yes, he once questioned the sexuality of one of his quarterbacks. Yes, he threw quarterbacks and coaches under the bus whenever it suited his fancy.
But he deserves to be in Canton. He should be in Canton.
”I don’t understand what he’s trying to accomplish here, but he’s a tough guy to understand,” Domowitch said. I think he’s going to regret it later on because a lot of the Hall of Famers are going to hold it against him. Part of the joy of being one of those guys is not just getting inducted but all the things you go to together in the future. When the other Hall of Famers get together, he won’t really be welcomed.”
No he won’t, though to Owens it doesn’t seem to matter.
It’s just T.O. being T.O.
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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or Marvin Bagley III and Michael Porter Jr. believe they are the best players in this NBA draft, though the best they can hope for is probably the No. 2 pick.
The Sacramento Kings own it, and that’s where the intrigue appears to begin Thursday.
Arizona center Deandre Ayton is expected to be taken by the Phoenix Suns to open the draft, and then Bagley, Porter, Slovenian guard Luka Doncic or Michigan State’s Jaren Jackson Jr. could be considered by Sacramento.
The Kings have been one of the league’s lowliest franchises, not making the playoffs since 2006. But Bagley and Porter both said they would be open to playing in Sacramento, and getting picked so early would be an accomplishment for Porter after a back injury sidelined him for nearly all of his only season at Missouri.
Bagley thrived in his one season at Duke and doesn’t expect that to change once he’s a pro.
”I want to be the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball, and I mean that in the most humble way possible,” he said. ”Not to sound cocky or come off as arrogant, but that’s just the mindset that I have. I always say, if you don’t want to get to that level or be the best, then there’s really no need to play.”
Doncic only arrived in the U.S. on Wednesday after helping Real Madrid win the ACB league championship a day earlier. If the Kings don’t select him Troy Hill Jersey , he could end up in Atlanta, Memphis or Dallas, who round out the top-five spots.
Other things to know before Thursday’s draft at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center:
BAHAMAS TO BROOKLYN
Ayton could join 1978 top pick Mychal Thompson – father of Golden State star Klay Thompson – as the only players from the Bahamas to go No. 1.
”It’s just a huge opportunity to show the world that we’re coming. Bahamian people are coming,” Ayton said. ”We’re not just only a country of track and field athletes. We can also play basketball.”
If it happens and Doncic follows, it would be the first time the NBA draft started with two international-born players.
TERRIFIC TEAMMATES
Power programs such as Duke (Bagley and Wendell Carter Jr.), Michigan State (Jackson and Miles Bridges), national champion Villanova (Mikal Bridges and Donte DiVincenzo) and Kentucky (Kevin Knox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) could have multiple players taken in the top 10-15 selections of the two-round draft.
MAKING A MOCKERY
Jackson was on the rise in some mock drafts this spring, though he never noticed. He said he would look at them sometimes when he was a younger fan, but hasn’t had any interest now that his name is in them.
”I think when I was in high school, I probably looked at those mock drafts when they came out and said, `Oh snap.’ But as I found out there was like so many people making different ones, I kind of just lost interest in looking at it,” he said. ”I kind of just play my game, work on getting better and just wait for that moment. Tomorrow’s the day so there’s no more mocks. It’s going to be the regular draft.”
TURN OFF TWITTER
Porter was frustrated when he felt comments he made in an interview were turned around, quickly learning that life will be different in the NBA.
”I’ll give you an example. Yesterday I get asked, who have you been compared to in the NBA? Who do people compare you to?” Porter said. ”And I said, `You know, I’ve been compared to KD (Kevin Durant) before. I’ve been compared to Tracy McGrady,’ and then they put it on Twitter Michael Gallup Jersey , it’s like, Michael Porter says he’s as good as KD and Tracy McGrady. And I’m like come on, bro, I didn’t say that. But at the end of the day, that’s why I try to stay off Twitter.”
STYLE WATCH
Carter wore pants that had a different pattern on each leg to his Wednesday media session and there was some other sparkle in the room, but the best of the style figures to come out, as usual, on draft night.
”All the way from when LeBron had the all-white coming out, the suits are what stand out to me, what they wear,” Young said. ”Everybody has a different background and different story on how they got there, but what they’re wearing is what sticks out to me right now.”
And he’s planning to make an NBA first impression.
”Yeah, it’s going to be something fine,” the point guard said. ”It’s going to be something crazy.”
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30.08.2018 11:53
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