T.O. Thoughts

From what I have seen just about everyone is praising his effort...just not a lot since they didn't win. I think it would be different if they has won. And forgice me if I am being naive here but I don't see any of this having to do with race. There may be institutional racism still lurking throughout the league but I really don't think the media cares if a guy is white black or purple as long as he makes a good story. Maybe TO forgot the two weeks everyone spent reporting on him before the superbowl.

oh yeah, and ppl call mcnair the toughest guy cuz he plays through injuries and last time i checked he was black

Yeah i really don't think race has anything to do with it. Favre is held up like he's a warrior god for whatever reason but I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he is white. I think it goes more along the lines of hype. Sorta like how somehow people have this idea that Mike Alstott is the greatest FB ever but is really only average and always has been. He's only considered good because Madden spends entire Bucs games talking about him. Favre is a lot the same way. He's a fantastic QB that has won superbowls so he gets passes on his ginormous mistakes he's made since the media has annoited him. He has always made ridiculous errors. TO is a contorversial character whom the media has little true respect for so therefore nobody cares to write about how great his effort was.

It occurs to me that Owens has the reputation he has because he couldn't care less what you or I think of him. His (non-football) actions are those of a man who is beyond self-centered. Every thing he does and utterance he makes has to be viewed through the egomaniacal T.O. prism to make sense.

That being said, what he did yesterday had nothing to do with the glorification of T.O., and everything to do with helping his team win. When the game is being played, he is the best receiver in the game, and one of the best players in the game.

This could be the most memorable athletic achievement in my lifetime. This was Jack Youngblood meets Willis Reed - with the added feature of a very good performance. The Eagles lost, and I'm glad, but T.O. did more to keep them in that game than McNabb and Westbrook combined - and he did so at great jeopardy to his career. I think Curmudgeon has set the bar a little high if he wants his "warriors" to equal this feat.

TO, hate em, but you gotta respect his will and desire to play the game.

Daryl Green when he tore his rib cage muscle during the return against the Bear's in the playoff's and still played after that, maybe not quite what as tough as what TO did but defiently honorable mention.

I was thinking the exact same thing Offiss. That punt return remains the greatest Redskin play I've ever seen.

No offense to:
- Riggins run against Miami
- Manley's sack against White
- Green chasing down Dorsett
- Green chasing down Dickerson (not mentioned much, but more impressive than the Dorsett play IMO)
- Green batting the ball away against Det
- Orr's fumble recovery

O ya, as for TO, I hate the guy, but he was really solid yesterday. Him and Westbrook were the only weapons (but we knew that already).

THis has nothing to do with black or white. It has to do with his showboat TO show. TO is a great player but he likes to showboat at every chance he can get. The media assumed this was TO drawing attention to himself as he has done so frequently in the past. If he wants all the hype he shouldn't whin when the media makes this assumption if its fair or not. After watching the game I would have to say he wanted to win and help his team. Farve on the other hand just goes about his business and does not draw the attention to himself. Using Farve as a comparrison for how the media treated him was way off the mark two totaly different personalities.

I agree. First - TO is a helluva a player who deserves the acclaim he gets for being a great receiver. As he has pointed out, he does not get into trouble outside the lines. His teammates (Eagle teammates anyway) seem to like him. And playing as well as he did in the SB was truly an amazing physical feat.

With that said and IMO - The problem is that Owens is so full of himself that he considers anything less than complete adoration to be an insult or disrespectful.

Perhaps, if TO stopped loving TO so much (apparently his website say's something along the lines of "I love me sum me") and stopped making inane statements about how great he is (the "whole God healed me to prove so I could great to prove how great he is" BS made me want to puke) - Maybe, just maybe, he could shut up long enough to let others do his talking for him. At this point, however, his long history of disrespect towards his opponents and his need for absolute devotion from the media have probably poisoned the well so that he will never be able to be just "a great receiver".

His complete lack of humility makes it impossible for any amount of praise to be satisfactory to him.

Just a thought - whenever he has been shut down, has he ever given credit to his opponents? I honestly don't know the answer - I can't remember it ever happening but I am not saying it hasn't. I am betting he is pretty much incapable of doing so.

I agree 110% with what TO said, if that was someone like Favre that did that the media would definitely be eating it up.

Instead it's TO and he had to deal with people doubting what his motivations for playing were. I gained a ton of respect for TO yesterday.

WTF? This has nothing to do with race. A lot of people can't stand TO because he is an obnoxious, vain individual and quite a showboat. Still, what he did yesterday was just shy of amazing. TO works hard and he wants to win. I respect him for that. Without him the game would have been a blowout. Mr. Flinchall and Stinkston would have defiantly stunk up the joint.

I agree 110% with what TO said, if that was someone like Favre that did that the media would definitely be eating it up.

Instead it's TO and he had to deal with people doubting what his motivations for playing were. I gained a ton of respect for TO yesterday.

Yeah, if it had been Farve, the media would have been eating it up. BUT, at least part of the reason for that is that Farve, generally, has never been so arrogant as to not give credit to teammates or opponents and has never flinched from taking the blame when he deserved it.

Owens gets his motivations doubted because of his past behavior. His showboating activities and "look at me!!!" style do not evidence an "I am just trying to help the team" type of athlete. Rather, they, quite naturally, create the impression of an athlete who is more concerned with himself than the team.

If he is doubted, then it is because his past actions have built the chain of doubters link by link. (with apologies to Dickens).