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Associated Press
National Football League News Wire
OXNARD, Calif. -- Drew Bledsoe either has the best job in the NFL or the worst, all for the same reason: He is Terrell Owens' quarterback.
Let's start with why that's a good thing.
Throwing to a big, strong, fast, sure-handed target like Owens should make it easier for Bledsoe to move the Dallas Cowboys down the field. Think of all the balls Owens might catch and all the yards he could gain. Plus, factor in how much he helps even on plays not drawn up for him by drawing defenders from everyone else.
There's plenty of proof of an Owens Effect.
In San Francisco, Jeff Garcia became a three-time Pro Bowl quarterback by throwing to Owens. They hooked up for 50 touchdowns between 1999-2003, second in that span only to Indianapolis' vaunted tandem of Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison (61), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Donovan McNabb already was a Pro Bowler before T.O. joined him in Philadelphia in 2004. Still, their one full season together produced the best numbers of McNabb's career, and did it by a wide margin that would've been wider had Owens not missed the last two games with an injury.
Problem is, Garcia and McNabb are rarely linked to Owens by stats or Pro Bowls. The defining memory is the venomous way their relationships ended, with Owens in the role of rattlesnake.
The short story is that he insinuated that Garcia was gay, and he soured on McNabb after the quarterback cursed at him in a huddle. Things got so bad that the 49ers and Eagles both dumped Owens, opting for locker room harmony over a dominant No. 1 receiver.
The fallout in Philadelphia was so harsh that team owner Jeffrey Lurie said this week that signing Owens was a mistake, even though he helped the club nearly win a Super Bowl. "Nobody should be able to be as disruptive and really cut the energy of the team down," Lurie said.
So, Drew: Really think things will go differently for you and T.O.?
"I'm not concerned about it in the least," Bledsoe said. "I've dealt with a lot of receivers that are volatile guys. That's just part of the nature of the position, and so far I haven't had any problems with any of them."
Bledsoe's quick list of high-maintenance receivers includes Terry Glenn in his younger days in New England (not now that they've been reunited in Dallas), Eric Moulds in Buffalo ("a pain in the butt at times," Bledsoe said) and Keyshawn Johnson last season with the Cowboys (they had a sideline confrontation that began when Bledsoe approached Johnson after a fumble).
"I've always chosen to be proactive," Bledsoe said. "I feel like if you are honest with somebody and they know what to expect from you when you're coming in, and you stay with them and continue to give them information throughout the course of the season so they know what to expect, then the problems don't come up."
Owens wasn't around team headquarters much this summer, but he and Bledsoe did start buddying up through phone calls and text messages. They've had more time to get to know each other during training camp.
"He pretty much has been what I expected him to be," said Bledsoe, who hasn't read Owens' new book detailing his side of the story behind the Philadelphia meltdown. "He's a personable guy. He's a leader on the field, both with his work ethic and vocally. He's a guy that I enjoy being around and that really hasn't been a surprise to me at all."
Their on-field relationship seemed to hit a snag this week, with a series of incompletions Wednesday morning making Owens' body language scream frustration. Bledsoe picked up on it and tried smoothing things out by giving Owens an encouraging pat on the rear. Sure enough, following a post-practice chat with coach Bill Parcells, Owens seemed fine.
"We're getting there," said Owens, who missed practice Thursday because of a sore hamstring. "We're not there yet, but as I said from Day 1, this is what training camp and practice is all about. We're not going to get it done in one day, a week. The season is yet to get here. Once the season starts, I feel we'll be ready."
Bledsoe also seems to have a solid approach.
He says he's never had a teammate generate as much hype as Owens, but he's fine with it. "If the attention bothers you, then you are kind of in the wrong profession," Bledsoe said. "You deal with the distractions and you move on."
He also plans to treat Owens the way he does all other teammates: I'll be honest with you and I expect you to be honest with me. That might mean I point out some flaws in you, but I expect you to point out any flaws you see in me. If any problems come up, let's solve them behind closed doors.
"That's how a team works when it is functioning well," said Bledsoe, who certainly should know after 13 seasons.
Inevitably, there will be a play where Bledsoe throws elsewhere when Owens is open followed by the receiver letting the quarterback hear about his mistake.
"If he's right, I will tell him, 'You're right, I did.' If he's wrong, I will tell him why I didn't throw it where he wanted it," Bledsoe said. "Usually, I'm the one who goes and says something to the receiver, 'Hey, I missed you on that one. I'll get you on the next one."
Even without reading Owens' book, Bledsoe knows the feud with McNabb began in the huddle. He doesn't care. He's not about to be on his best behavior in the heat of competition.
Would he ever tell Owens, or any receiver, to shut the (bleep) up, like McNabb did?
"If they need to be told that, then, yeah," he said.
Parcells said he won't monitor the development of the Bledsoe-Owens relationship, at least not as much as the rest of the football world will. He considers Bledsoe a big boy who can take care of himself.
"It's pretty much a nonfactor to me," Parcells said.
OK, enough of the risk. Bledsoe prefers talking about the reward Owens could bring to a club that went 9-7 and missed the playoffs last year.
"He can score any time from any place on the field," Bledsoe said. "That changes the dynamics of how the defense will approach it, and it changes what we expect from our offense.
"I think we can be very, very explosive. With T.O. out there and Terry Glenn on the other side and Jason Witten in the middle and a couple of good backs, we should be a lot to handle. It should make it a lot of fun. I really feel like if we stay healthy and keep all our guys on the field that we can play with anybody in this league."
There are two other things working in Bledsoe's favor: Parcells' presence and, perhaps more important, the honeymoon phase.
Owens was fine his first season in Philadelphia, with whatever problems he had with McNabb kept under wraps until after the Super Bowl. The going theory is that he'll be fine this season, too, especially since there's a big financial incentive -- a $5 million salary and a $3 million bonus if he's on the roster in March.
The jury is still out on whether Parcells truly agreed with team owner Jerry Jones' decision to sign Owens, but he's come across as nothing but supportive.
He insists Owens will be judged strictly on how he behaves here, even suggesting that Garcia and McNabb "are the guys with the problems." Parcells also likes reminding everyone how well he's dealt with talented players known for causing as many headaches for teammates as for opponents, guys like Lawrence Taylor, Bryan Cox and Johnson, who was released to make way for T.O.
"I wasn't there for any of his history; I wasn't living in a closet either," Parcells said. "Each year is pretty much different in the NFL, and it's always been my approach with players to kind of tell them what I want and try to give them an understanding of what we're trying to do and then pretty much go by what I see after that."
It sounds like a simple formula. And it sounds like what folks at Eagles camp were saying two years ago.
"I'll just tell Drew, 'Hey, good luck," McNabb said.
Bledsoe's answer: "We're going to be fine."
National Football League News Wire
OXNARD, Calif. -- Drew Bledsoe either has the best job in the NFL or the worst, all for the same reason: He is Terrell Owens' quarterback.
Let's start with why that's a good thing.
Throwing to a big, strong, fast, sure-handed target like Owens should make it easier for Bledsoe to move the Dallas Cowboys down the field. Think of all the balls Owens might catch and all the yards he could gain. Plus, factor in how much he helps even on plays not drawn up for him by drawing defenders from everyone else.
There's plenty of proof of an Owens Effect.
In San Francisco, Jeff Garcia became a three-time Pro Bowl quarterback by throwing to Owens. They hooked up for 50 touchdowns between 1999-2003, second in that span only to Indianapolis' vaunted tandem of Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison (61), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Donovan McNabb already was a Pro Bowler before T.O. joined him in Philadelphia in 2004. Still, their one full season together produced the best numbers of McNabb's career, and did it by a wide margin that would've been wider had Owens not missed the last two games with an injury.
Problem is, Garcia and McNabb are rarely linked to Owens by stats or Pro Bowls. The defining memory is the venomous way their relationships ended, with Owens in the role of rattlesnake.
The short story is that he insinuated that Garcia was gay, and he soured on McNabb after the quarterback cursed at him in a huddle. Things got so bad that the 49ers and Eagles both dumped Owens, opting for locker room harmony over a dominant No. 1 receiver.
The fallout in Philadelphia was so harsh that team owner Jeffrey Lurie said this week that signing Owens was a mistake, even though he helped the club nearly win a Super Bowl. "Nobody should be able to be as disruptive and really cut the energy of the team down," Lurie said.
So, Drew: Really think things will go differently for you and T.O.?
"I'm not concerned about it in the least," Bledsoe said. "I've dealt with a lot of receivers that are volatile guys. That's just part of the nature of the position, and so far I haven't had any problems with any of them."
Bledsoe's quick list of high-maintenance receivers includes Terry Glenn in his younger days in New England (not now that they've been reunited in Dallas), Eric Moulds in Buffalo ("a pain in the butt at times," Bledsoe said) and Keyshawn Johnson last season with the Cowboys (they had a sideline confrontation that began when Bledsoe approached Johnson after a fumble).
"I've always chosen to be proactive," Bledsoe said. "I feel like if you are honest with somebody and they know what to expect from you when you're coming in, and you stay with them and continue to give them information throughout the course of the season so they know what to expect, then the problems don't come up."
Owens wasn't around team headquarters much this summer, but he and Bledsoe did start buddying up through phone calls and text messages. They've had more time to get to know each other during training camp.
"He pretty much has been what I expected him to be," said Bledsoe, who hasn't read Owens' new book detailing his side of the story behind the Philadelphia meltdown. "He's a personable guy. He's a leader on the field, both with his work ethic and vocally. He's a guy that I enjoy being around and that really hasn't been a surprise to me at all."
Their on-field relationship seemed to hit a snag this week, with a series of incompletions Wednesday morning making Owens' body language scream frustration. Bledsoe picked up on it and tried smoothing things out by giving Owens an encouraging pat on the rear. Sure enough, following a post-practice chat with coach Bill Parcells, Owens seemed fine.
"We're getting there," said Owens, who missed practice Thursday because of a sore hamstring. "We're not there yet, but as I said from Day 1, this is what training camp and practice is all about. We're not going to get it done in one day, a week. The season is yet to get here. Once the season starts, I feel we'll be ready."
Bledsoe also seems to have a solid approach.
He says he's never had a teammate generate as much hype as Owens, but he's fine with it. "If the attention bothers you, then you are kind of in the wrong profession," Bledsoe said. "You deal with the distractions and you move on."
He also plans to treat Owens the way he does all other teammates: I'll be honest with you and I expect you to be honest with me. That might mean I point out some flaws in you, but I expect you to point out any flaws you see in me. If any problems come up, let's solve them behind closed doors.
"That's how a team works when it is functioning well," said Bledsoe, who certainly should know after 13 seasons.
Inevitably, there will be a play where Bledsoe throws elsewhere when Owens is open followed by the receiver letting the quarterback hear about his mistake.
"If he's right, I will tell him, 'You're right, I did.' If he's wrong, I will tell him why I didn't throw it where he wanted it," Bledsoe said. "Usually, I'm the one who goes and says something to the receiver, 'Hey, I missed you on that one. I'll get you on the next one."
Even without reading Owens' book, Bledsoe knows the feud with McNabb began in the huddle. He doesn't care. He's not about to be on his best behavior in the heat of competition.
Would he ever tell Owens, or any receiver, to shut the (bleep) up, like McNabb did?
"If they need to be told that, then, yeah," he said.
Parcells said he won't monitor the development of the Bledsoe-Owens relationship, at least not as much as the rest of the football world will. He considers Bledsoe a big boy who can take care of himself.
"It's pretty much a nonfactor to me," Parcells said.
OK, enough of the risk. Bledsoe prefers talking about the reward Owens could bring to a club that went 9-7 and missed the playoffs last year.
"He can score any time from any place on the field," Bledsoe said. "That changes the dynamics of how the defense will approach it, and it changes what we expect from our offense.
"I think we can be very, very explosive. With T.O. out there and Terry Glenn on the other side and Jason Witten in the middle and a couple of good backs, we should be a lot to handle. It should make it a lot of fun. I really feel like if we stay healthy and keep all our guys on the field that we can play with anybody in this league."
There are two other things working in Bledsoe's favor: Parcells' presence and, perhaps more important, the honeymoon phase.
Owens was fine his first season in Philadelphia, with whatever problems he had with McNabb kept under wraps until after the Super Bowl. The going theory is that he'll be fine this season, too, especially since there's a big financial incentive -- a $5 million salary and a $3 million bonus if he's on the roster in March.
The jury is still out on whether Parcells truly agreed with team owner Jerry Jones' decision to sign Owens, but he's come across as nothing but supportive.
He insists Owens will be judged strictly on how he behaves here, even suggesting that Garcia and McNabb "are the guys with the problems." Parcells also likes reminding everyone how well he's dealt with talented players known for causing as many headaches for teammates as for opponents, guys like Lawrence Taylor, Bryan Cox and Johnson, who was released to make way for T.O.
"I wasn't there for any of his history; I wasn't living in a closet either," Parcells said. "Each year is pretty much different in the NFL, and it's always been my approach with players to kind of tell them what I want and try to give them an understanding of what we're trying to do and then pretty much go by what I see after that."
It sounds like a simple formula. And it sounds like what folks at Eagles camp were saying two years ago.
"I'll just tell Drew, 'Hey, good luck," McNabb said.
Bledsoe's answer: "We're going to be fine."
