Owens is so polarizing -- and nobody forced him to be a drama queen. That's his doing. As a result, folks tend to be either "all in" or "all out." It's difficult to be objective, in either direction.
His play this year has been pretty typical of great athletes on the wrong side of their prime. He is still capable of rising up and giving magnificent performances, but it doesn't appear he is able to do it on a week to week basis. That is not unusual for an older athlete.
The question about Owens is whether he is able to recognize and to adapt to the changes time inevitably brings. Physically, he is more than capable of being a nice contributor, probably for two more years, perhaps even three. Mentally and emotionally, I'm not sure that's true. He thinks of himself as a star, and he wants to be treated, in every way, as a star -- no... as the star.
Every problem with this Cowboys team certainly isn't of Owens' making. But he has made some contributions. The question is whether the positive outweighs the negative.
Owens can still win you one or two games a year. He can rise up and be exceptional. He will also drop some key passes, run some lazy routes and cause some distractions. In the worst case, he will cause major distractions.
I tend toward being in the "move on without him" category. I see him being more disruptive as his talent continues to erode, which it will. He is a human being.
I can understand, though, why others disagree. The Cowboys haven't shown well when he has been injured or has otherwise been taken out of games. He is still an exciting player.
It's always tough to know when it's time to move on. In this case, maybe it comes to this: The Cowboys miss something -- a cohesiveness, a chemistry... Romo is going nowhere. Witten is going nowhere. Owens is not going to get many more throws.
They say you can't open a new can of players, so you fire the coach. In this case, I think it applies to Owens.
