By WILLIAM BOLOGNA
The Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee cast their votes for the 2017 Hall of Fame Class, and out of 15 finalists, 7 were inducted.
In evaluating a player’s overall greatness, many consider not only a player’s performance on the field, but also behavior off the field – especially if it restricts his team’s ability to win. Perhaps this is why Terrell Owens, who played for 5 different teams throughout his career, failed to make the Hall of Fame this year.
Owens, unhappy with the turnout, took to Twitter to express his complaints with the results. Owens calls the Hall of Fame a “total joke” and says it”doesn’t mean anything” to him at this point.
Owens went as far as calling the Hall of Fame a #FlawedProcess in expressing his disappointment. Despite having not played a down of football in over 5 years, Owens hasn’t changed much from his playing days as he’s never liked to keep his opinions quiet.
[LISTEN: Terrell Owens talks to Mike Francesa about not making the Hall of Fame]
Numbers Don’t Lie
The numbers prove that Terrell Owens is undoubtedly one of the greatest receivers of all time. According to the online encyclopedia of football stats and history, ProFootballReference, Owens finished his career 2nd all-time in receiving yards (15,934), 3rd in receiving touchdowns (153) and eighth in receptions (1,078) – proving him a worthy candidate for the Hall of Fame.
More Harm Than Help?
Despite his outstanding numbers, voters found reasons why they didn’t believe he should be voted into the Hall of Fame. According to USA Today, Hall of Fame Voter Gary Meyers, of the Daily News, told the Dan Patrick Show “The bottom line on T.O. is he was so disruptive. He’s a Hall of Fame player that five teams couldn’t wait to get rid of. So what does that tell about how disruptive he was?”
Despite a spectacular career, Owens failed to ever win a Super Bowl ring, which could be used against him in the argument that he brought more issues to a team than he did talent. Unfortunately, Owens built himself a more lasting legacy as a trouble maker than as a football player. Owens caused problems both on and off the field. Owens was also infamous for excessive, unsportsmanlike touchdown-celebrations, such as proposing to a cheerleader, dancing on the Dallas Cowboys logo at midfield and mocking Ray Lewis’ pregame dance in a game against the Ravens.
Off the field, Owens was infamous for exhibiting poor attitude off the field as well. Prior to the 2005 season, Owens showed up to training camp with the Eagles with a bad attitude and refused to acknowledge his teammates or any media ultimately leading to a suspension and then later his dismissal from the team. In 2006 after ingesting a mixture of pain pills and other supplements, Owens was rushed to the hospital after what was thought to be a suicide attempt, though Owens denied any suicidal intentions.
Other than his off-the-field issues, another Hall of Fame voter cites another reason for Owens’ Hall of Fame woes. Hall of Fame voter and Boston Herald writer Ron Borjes blames dropped passes for keeping T.O. out of the Hall of Fame. Borjes wrote, “Owens not only led the NFL in drops once, he finished in the top four in drops seven other seasons during his 15-year career.”
Despite his great numbers, Owens proves that nobody is perfect as even he had his fair share of drops throughout his career.
NFL Legend Deion Sanders Empathizes for Owens
While many view T.O. as a problem, Owens supporters, like NFL legend Deion Sanders, tells NFL Network’s Rich Eisen that Owens was “misunderstood.” Sanders, also known as Prime-Time, says he feels “sorry for him” as he feels he was often “misinterpreted.”
Watch the full NFL Network interview with Prime-Time.
Hall-of-Famer or not, there’s no denying that Terrell Owens is still one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play in the NFL. While voters found off-field reasons that restricted T.O. from making the Hall of Fame, it is a safe assumption that a player of Owens’ caliber will have no problem making the Hall of Fame in the upcoming years.
[STORIFY: Check out this Storify which covered the Hall of Fame Enshrinement ceremony from last year, allowing you to experience the atmosphere of the event.]
Very well written article. I really liked how you explained many reasons, according to voters as to why T.O. was not voted into the HOF. I would have liked to hear about reactions of fans around the league,as many love him and many do not.