T.O. isn't the only one to blame in Philly

[Trip]

Yes, one more TO thread. I apologize in advance to those tiring of this whole mess, but what else is there to talk about during a bye week?

I'm not a TO fan. Not at all.

But to make Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb out to be heroes, and absolve them from this whole mess is quite ridiculous.

This situtation began to get out of control last year before the Super Bowl when McNabb said the Eagles could win without TO. Since that moment Owens has taken every possible opportunity to criticize the QB, and McNabb by his actions, has done nothing but encourage it.

McNabb could have taken the high road, or said the obvious "It'll be tough without TO, but we're still going to play the game." And after it was clear Owens was angered by the comments, justified or not, McNabb could have made a public peace offering, but he chose not to. Leader?

McNabb could also have taken himself completely out of the TO contract saga. "TO is a very valuable member of our offense and my best target. I don't write the checks, but we're a better team with him." But nothing like that came out of McNabb's mouth.

Andy Reid should have put himself right in the middle of this mess as soon as it happened but he let his team get as much out of control as Tice did the Vikings.

TO just did what he always does.

The Eagles organization are the ones that failed.

Now McNabb gets to go back to being the QB that everyone says "Wow, he doesn't even have any targets. How good could this guy be...."

He can get used to it because he'll never have another target like Owens, and it's as much his own fault as anyone's.

I'm so glad I'm not an Eagles fan this weekend.

 

[SultanOfSix]

Well said. TO is partially to blame, but so is McNabb and company.

 

[mr.jameswoods]

So what are the Eagles supposed to say prior to last year's Superbowl: "No, we can't win without TO" And Donovan McNabb did say that TO was valuable to the organization and that he hoped to have him signed this offseason. He said this despite TO's disaparaging comments about him. DId you really expect McNabb to go out of his way and kiss his *** after he just publicly criticized him? McNabb deserves credit for not lashing out at TO like he every right to do. Instead he thought of the team and still gave him credit.

The Eagles can't win with you guys. If they keep TO, they lose. If they do the right thing and permanently suspend him, they lose. What were they supposed to do? Suspend him in the offseason? They had no idea it would escalate to this level in which TO was starting fights in the lockeroom with Hugh Douglas and the team in general.

I hate the Eagles but I have always been fair. They did the right thing. They didn't cave into pressure and extend his contract like most teams would have done. They didn't celebrate his 100th TD reception.

And let's be honest, the NFC is not that strong. Anyone, including the Eagles, could still win the division or go far in the playoffs if they had TO on their team. There is no truly dominant team in the NFC. So for the Eagles to do this at midseason when they are .500 took guts.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

So what are the Eagles supposed to say prior to last year's Superbowl: "No, we can't win without TO

according to Owens yes, he wants to feel like theyre crap w/o him. Thats why he hates the love Mcnabb gets, he wants to be #1.

 

[silver]

I really couldn't care less whose fault this is. I'm just glad its happening.

 

[Hostile]

TO is right about ONE thing in this whole fiasco. The Eagles absolutely should have recognized his 100th career TD. That is such a small thing.

If they ever recognize an individual accomplishment it meakes them liars. Let's say Donovan McNabb throws his 200th TD pass (not sure how close he is, just throwing out the number) and they put a congrats on the scoreboard, it means they're wrong.

I've seen players given recognition for individual accomplishments on the visitors scoreboard.

Now, having said all that, on everything else with the way he handled this TO is dead wrong, 100% culpability.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

They obviously choose not to celebrate his TD bc of his demeanor. They were fed up at that point.

And Owens, being the idiot he is, cost himself 900,000 this year, and now hell wont even get half the contract he had in Philly, the one that was such a disgrace.

Hes going to be sigend to multiple 1 year deals

 

[The30YardSlant]

Watching the Eagles fall back into their rightful place in the NFC East celler and watching Dallas, Washington, and NY, the only 3 teams from the East who have ever won ANYTIHING, battle it our for the crown is the best thing to happen to football in a while. It feels like the 90s again.

 

[Cowboy Junkie]

I agree with you Hostile ..The Eagles should have recognized his accomplishment.

BUT

Owens is an attention ***** and they weren't exactly tearing things up with him so getting rid of him and having a fresh start was the only way to go.

As for Mcnugget and Reid looking like hero's . I don't think anyone is sending out the band for them.

They made a mistake and admit to their mistake and dealt with it accordingly...

Everyone makes mistakes .
Its how you deal with those mistakes that shows what kind of man you are!!!

Owens will have a Job next year and No doubt it will pay a heck of a lot more than the working class...
Maybe he will do a key and hook on with a network this year and get paid or rewarded twice for his acts...
I appologize to Key for the comparisons ,because I feel they are totaly differen't.
I never heard Key put down his team mates and Key did have a healthy relationship with his previous team , in which Owens has not...

Just hope Owens job search dosen't end in Dallas...

 

[Cowboy Junkie]

Maybe Owens should try out for the Mavs???
I think the NBA is right up his alley..

 

[Trip]

So what are the Eagles supposed to say prior to last year's Superbowl: "No, we can't win without TO" And Donovan McNabb did say that TO was valuable to the organization and that he hoped to have him signed this offseason. He said this despite TO's disaparaging comments about him. DId you really expect McNabb to go out of his way and kiss his *** after he just publicly criticized him? McNabb deserves credit for not lashing out at TO like he every right to do. Instead he thought of the team and still gave him credit.

The Eagles can't win with you guys. If they keep TO, they lose. If they do the right thing and permanently suspend him, they lose. What were they supposed to do? Suspend him in the offseason? They had no idea it would escalate to this level in which TO was starting fights in the lockeroom with Hugh Douglas and the team in general.

I hate the Eagles but I have always been fair. They did the right thing. They didn't cave into pressure and extend his contract like most teams would have done. They didn't celebrate his 100th TD reception.

And let's be honest, the NFC is not that strong. Anyone, including the Eagles, could still win the division or go far in the playoffs if they had TO on their team. There is no truly dominant team in the NFC. So for the Eagles to do this at midseason when they are .500 took guts.

What McNabb SHOULD have done is recognize the fact that his star receiver was offended by his comment and done SOMETHING before it escalated to the point it has.

No other star QB in the league would have handled TO the way McNabb has. Aikman certainly wouldn't have.

Saying the Eagles did the right thing now is simply stating the obvious.

If I'm the GM of the Eagles, the jury's out on Andy Reid. I've handed him a championship level ball club, and he's let it fall apart right in front of our eyes.

Would this situation have happened with a certain head coach that has our team in contention for the NFC East?

 

[mr.jameswoods]

What McNabb SHOULD have done is recognize the fact that his star receiver was offended by his comment and done SOMETHING before it escalated to the point it has.

I disagree. You have to draw the line somewhere. If your star receiver is so sensitive that he took offense to something as basic as suggesting you can win without your star receiver, then that is TO's fault. Any other QB would have said the same thing. That is a very basic comment that every QB says when one of their best players goes down. It's not McNabb's responsibility to massage TO's ego. You have to look at the context. The Eagles were in the Superbowl, what is their QB supposed to say: "We have no shot at winning this without TO." Everyone was doubting the Eagles had a chance. McNabb is their leader and he has to instill confidence in his team. He very confidenty yet not arrogantly said they can win without TO; that in no way suggests TO doesn't offer value.

If I'm the GM of the Eagles, the jury's out on Andy Reid. I've handed him a championship level ball club, and he's let it fall apart right in front of our eyes.

I think you are forgetting that Andy Reid built that championship level ball club. He wasn't handed anything. When Reid took over the Eagles, they were in shambles. And to be honest, I seriously doubt McNabb would have amounted to much without Andy Reid. Brett Favre himself attributes most of his success to Andy Reid and was quoted in SI for saying that Andy Reid and not Mike Holmgren was the reason behind the Packer's success on offense.

 

[Trip]

As for Mcnugget and Reid looking like hero's . I don't think anyone is sending out the band for them.

They made a mistake and admit to their mistake and dealt with it accordingly...

Everyone makes mistakes .
Its how you deal with those mistakes that shows what kind of man you are!!!

But it's how you deal with adversity and criticism that show leadership. The Eagles fell apart and ran from it. That reflects on their head coach and QB. If I hear ESPN say one more time what a great thing Andy Reid did I'll be sick......

 

[AbeBeta]

They failed when they deviated from everything they were about to sign TO.

 

[mr.jameswoods]

They failed when they deviated from everything they were about to sign TO.

Now that is something I could agree with. If you are going to criticize the Eagles, criticize them for signing TO in the first place. They knew what he was about and signed him anyway.

 

[Jimz31]

How about we blame the NFL as a league?

Remember when his agent "forgot" to send the paperwork in? They allowed it in his case but not in another's case.

He got away with screaming at the OC in SF.....

You keep letting a guy get away with stuff, they will think they deserve to get away with everything.

The NFL suits never should have waived the requirement that ultimately landed him with the Eagles.

I have MORE respect for the Eagles as an organization....(No, I can't believe that I just said that). But this is something that SHOULD have been done earlier. At least they finally pulled the trigger.

 

[Trip]

I disagree. You have to draw the line somewhere. If your star receiver is so sensitive that he took offense to something as basic as suggesting you can win without your star receiver, then that is TO's fault. Any other QB would have said the same thing. That is a very basic comment that every QB says when one of their best players goes down. It's not McNabb's responsibility to massage TO's ego. You have to look at the context. The Eagles were in the Superbowl, what is their QB supposed to say: "We have no shot at winning this without TO." Everyone was doubting the Eagles had a chance. McNabb is their leader and he has to instill confidence in his team. He very confidenty yet not arrogantly said they can win without TO; that in no way suggests TO doesn't offer value.



I think you are forgetting that Andy Reid built that championship level ball club. He wasn't handed anything. When Reid took over the Eagles, they were in shambles. And to be honest, I seriously doubt McNabb would have amounted to much without Andy Reid. Brett Favre himself attributes most of his success to Andy Reid and was quoted in SI for saying that Andy Reid and not Mike Holmgren was the reason behind the Packer's success on offense.

Okay. We just disagree on what leadership is and what makes a great team and keeps one together.

TO's a jerk. You knew that when you signed him. Now what are you going to do about it? Coddle him? Let him get away with whatever he wants?

Either of those are the path to failure. The Eagles chose option B.

Communication, tackling problems head on, responsibility... where were those things here?

It's too easy for me to just say TO's a bad apple and that's the only thing wrong here. Do you realize the financial commitment the Eagles made to this guy, and the mess their cap's going to be in? This was a colossal mistake.

 

[Hostile]

How about we blame the NFL as a league?

Remember when his agent "forgot" to send the paperwork in? They allowed it in his case but not in another's case.

He got away with screaming at the OC in SF.....

You keep letting a guy get away with stuff, they will think they deserve to get away with everything.

The NFL suits never should have waived the requirement that ultimately landed him with the Eagles.

I have MORE respect for the Eagles as an organization....(No, I can't believe that I just said that). But this is something that SHOULD have been done earlier. At least they finally pulled the trigger.

 

[mr.jameswoods]

How about we blame the NFL as a league?

Remember when his agent "forgot" to send the paperwork in? They allowed it in his case but not in another's case.

He got away with screaming at the OC in SF.....

You keep letting a guy get away with stuff, they will think they deserve to get away with everything.

The NFL suits never should have waived the requirement that ultimately landed him with the Eagles.

I have MORE respect for the Eagles as an organization....(No, I can't believe that I just said that). But this is something that SHOULD have been done earlier. At least they finally pulled the trigger.

Well said

One thing that has always bothered me are how little these fines are. What's 200K to TO? I don't understand why the NFL, NBA etc. don't level fines in the million dollar range. Seriously, these fines are nothing more than a shot to someone's pride as opposed to his wallet. What's a 30K fine when you are making millions.

If the league really cared, they would levy real punishments instead of these ones that are meant to fool the public.

If I was the commissioner, I wouldn't fine these players, I would suspend them from future playoff games should they make it. That would send a message. Imagine not having a TO or another key player when you are in the Superbowl or an NFC championship game. Suspending a player for 2 games in the regular season doesn't mean squat.

 

[playit12]

I disagree. You have to draw the line somewhere. If your star receiver is so sensitive that he took offense to something as basic as suggesting you can win without your star receiver, then that is TO's fault.

It that kind of like saying "if your star QB is so sensitive that he took offense to something as basic as saying you would have won with another QB"?

Philly and their fans are going to get the rest of the season that they deserve. The fans had to make TO the spotlight and Reid had to make him an example, and now neither the team or the fans will have their best receiver on the field for the rest of the year.

All sides would have been better off to just ignore him and play ball.