Alexander said:
Correct. But my question should be posed to Michael Irvin: why the affection for Owens?
Irvin's affection for TO doesn't surprise me. It's more arm chair shrinking from an NFL fan who doesn't know either personally, but imo it's more evidence of the generous nature of MI that he be the sole public champion of TO - I see in that stance both sincerety, sympathy, and of course his boundless vanity - he obviously loved the way trumpeting "The Cowboys have had no # one receiver since me" gave him another platform for ESPN tomfoolery.
I also suspect TO is smart enough to have been wearing that MI jersey with sincerity. I think there is genuine mutual affection there but who knows how deep it lies. Mike seems to support TO as a great talent, but one who is misunderstood. Could be a lot of projecting, of living in his own past, who knows..the endearing quality of MI is his ability to let his own ego rub off on an issue, yet sit back and laugh about in such a way that his audience feels he is not taking himself anything like too serious.
That's the core diff in these two, imo. One, MI took his career very seriously, but not himself. The other appears to think he is not just the center of his own universe, but everyone's. Irvin's chest thumping has charm whereas Owen's makes one uneasy...it sniffs like something beyond his ability to control. TO isn't like any of the notorious showboating party boys who get absolved of their shenanigans ..he's not a Namath, not a Mantle, and if historians are correct - not a Ruth either. He has no off field glamour or pizazz.
All the Golden Boy personalties from Hornung to Irvin to Geter (I guess Leinart thiks he can cast himself in this mold, but style is born not made) were Men's Men who Women Loved...you wanted to hang with them - they had what TO lacks, a boyish charm caught with the hand in the cookie jar...a larger than life capacity for life. Whatever the personal failings, if any, were therefore more pitied than censured - these were good, generous, honest men on the most fundamental level - and that is what Aikman got across in his recent article.
Poor TO lacks any of the shining personality traits of this breed. And in particular, charisma. A showboat sans charisma is a boor. Sad fact of life is that what one player/person can do and be called charming, another
does and is disdained.
I honestly believe that there are more similarities than differences, despite Troy Aikman's heartfelt concerns.
And you could be right. But despite Irvin's showboating, his gut reactions seemed to be about team...and his role as a catalyst in making it better. The day one former teammate speaks anywhere near as glowingly about TO as Aikman does about his buddy, I will believe TO has touched a fellow human being like Irvin so obviously did. But folks who are about themselves are doomed - their POVS are egocentrically grounded, and every motive, perspective and action tainted by mefirstism. I'm sure you've known someone like TO, if on a less grand scale, in your life. And when you think on who the sole folks were who could even stomach them, they were characters like MI - so non-judgmental and optimistic they could deal with the self centeredness w/o feeling threatened. But I've noticed the MI's of this world tend to play the non-judgment card too often for their own good. The belief that others are as straightforward and fun loving as they are is the gullibility factor that inevitably does them in.
The one thing we never saw with Michael was him playing with a subpar QB or above all, placed in a consistently losing environment with a coach without any method of discipline. Put Michael Irvin on the 1990s Cincinnati Bengals instead of the Dallas Cowboys. Would he be the same player and teammate? That's something very interesting to consider.
Yeah it is, Alex. I don't see MI in those circumstances ending up beaten up or down like a Barry Sanders, or getting cynical like Corey Dillon. In fact, I see him more likely to be trying to get out of town while he still retained his humour...but then ANYONE would be trying to get out of town..it's much harder to be a team player on a losing team, and Tuna himself is always pointing that out as a reason why a team MUST win in a certain period of time.
But MI's ebullience, confidence, and optimism would be pretty good weapons to fight that war with. Success always makes the short and long roads easier, but then again, TO never played on the Bengals of the 90's either. I kinda think MI would better weather the storm than most personalities.
Hey Alex, I saw the infamous Teague-Owens clip again a while back and noticed something for the first time, and that was TO's reaction when GT drove into him.
I found it stunning.
No response to the hit, no attempt to drive back, no anger.
Just a rebound to retake the star, like Teague was a phantom...the only thing that counted was that TO"s previously planned center of attention stunt should gain him that...he looked like you could have started calling out his mother or blown a booger in his eye, or beat him over the head with a cement block... and he'd still just preprogram, robotize back to that star...that star..where the camera light would be 'apoppin. Teague, like the rest of both teams, like the fans, the refs, the world, were mere props. He had it planned out he would celebrate on the star, and that took precedence over everything. I don't think a nuclear holocaust could have dissuaded him.
Watch it again and see if the words sick puppy don't run thru your head. I swear this guy is freaking addicted to attention, like a prom date who does a strip tease to the last waltz. This dude is quantitatively and qualitatively different from any showboater I've seen in thirty plus years of NFL fandom. Unfortunately, what could be the least harmful possible response to his antics - humour, isn't even an option. The guy is so darn unlikable you can't even laugh AT him, much less WITH him.
And I think MI knows it, and pities him for it.
Well this latest round of TO shrinking has been fun. Props to him for enlivening late May, anyway.
