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Only the Dallas Cowboys defense jumped to Terrell Owens’ defense
"I don’t think it was a good move. Yeah, to me, I’m disappointed in it."
"I’m going to miss him."
"I thought it was bananas."
Player reaction to T.O.’s untimely Cowboy demise was so sticky sweet and maudlin that drive-bys to this mess probably believe, "Hey, this guy does not sound like such a bad dude. Look at how many Cowboys jump to his defense."
Do not be fooled. Notice how all of his defenders were defenders.
Guys such as Greg Ellis and Terence Newman like T.O., mostly because they did not have to deal with him pouting in the huddle or increasingly questioning the game plan in meetings or his incessant campaigning again OC Jason Garrett. Also because he spent a lot of time preaching his message to them.
Sources say T.O. bragged to his crew this season that he had told The Red-Headed Genius to his face that he didn’t respect him. Whatever anyone thinks of The RHG, and my e-mail inbox says popular opinion has been cratering since Green Bay, T.O.’s decision to take him on so blatantly irreparably fractured an already tenuous relationship between himself and Tony Romo-Jason Witten-Jason Garrett.
"He had gone after all of them, mostly Garrett, but all of them at one point and it had come to where guys were almost joking about it, 'Oh, it must be Romo’s turn,’ " a Cowboy player said Friday. "But after a while, it did wear on us."
And this is why none of the warm fuzzy "We’re going to miss him stuff" was coming from the offensive side of the ball in Wednesday night’s aftermath.
They know what a pain in the butt he is, and they knew he had to go.
Of course, offensive players never said this publicly. They never really said anything publicly about T.O. except for very vague, very PC nonsense for fear of becoming an enemy and all that entails.
About the only people willing to talk truth with regard to T.O. were "anonymous sources" and thus were quickly dismissed as not existing at all or pot stirrers or, as Witten learned, "cowards."
It didn’t matter that nobody actually knows if Witten was "the source" behind the now somewhat infamous statements to ESPN’s Ed Werder that painted T.O. as a a jealous, selfish jerk. Witten was fingered by T.O. and thereby had to watch as many of his Cowboy teammates — guys who had seen him run down the field in Philly without a helmet on, play with countless injuries, watched what he brought on every play — turned on him.
We’re talking good guys, too, players Witten had been close with who were mad at him. T.O. had been preaching how unfair everything was, how guys like Witten and The RHG and Romo were getting a free pass while defensive players and Coach Wade and him were being demonized. And pretty soon this locker room had turned into a very Us Vs. Them atmosphere by season’s end.
"Us" was T.O. and his posse.
"Them" was Witten, The RHG and, yes, Romo. He tried very hard to stay above this fray. He is the ultimate don’t-rock-the-boat guy but sources say he too had tired of the constancy of T.O., always a story, always mad at somebody, always needing reassurance and the ball and a self-created drama to star in.
Which is what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had to mean when he talked at the NFL Scouting Combine about becoming more Romo-friendly, although, RHG-friendly and Witten-friendly also apply. He finally realized he had to decide, and he chose to listen to the guys who said volumes about T.O.’s departure by not saying anything at all.
You didn’t hear Romo say, "I don’t think it was a good move." You didn’t hear Witten say, "Man, I’m going to miss him." And you didn’t hear The RHG say, "I thought it was bananas."
They knew what a pain in the butt he was, and they knew he had to go.
"A bunch of us were talking and a guy was like, 'Wait, we’re talking about Witten. We know him. This is a good guy, a good teammate,’ " a player said Friday "And you could see the light bulb go on."
And not a second too soon.
Jennifer Floyd Engel, 817-390-7760
"I don’t think it was a good move. Yeah, to me, I’m disappointed in it."
"I’m going to miss him."
"I thought it was bananas."
Player reaction to T.O.’s untimely Cowboy demise was so sticky sweet and maudlin that drive-bys to this mess probably believe, "Hey, this guy does not sound like such a bad dude. Look at how many Cowboys jump to his defense."
Do not be fooled. Notice how all of his defenders were defenders.
Guys such as Greg Ellis and Terence Newman like T.O., mostly because they did not have to deal with him pouting in the huddle or increasingly questioning the game plan in meetings or his incessant campaigning again OC Jason Garrett. Also because he spent a lot of time preaching his message to them.
Sources say T.O. bragged to his crew this season that he had told The Red-Headed Genius to his face that he didn’t respect him. Whatever anyone thinks of The RHG, and my e-mail inbox says popular opinion has been cratering since Green Bay, T.O.’s decision to take him on so blatantly irreparably fractured an already tenuous relationship between himself and Tony Romo-Jason Witten-Jason Garrett.
"He had gone after all of them, mostly Garrett, but all of them at one point and it had come to where guys were almost joking about it, 'Oh, it must be Romo’s turn,’ " a Cowboy player said Friday. "But after a while, it did wear on us."
And this is why none of the warm fuzzy "We’re going to miss him stuff" was coming from the offensive side of the ball in Wednesday night’s aftermath.
They know what a pain in the butt he is, and they knew he had to go.
Of course, offensive players never said this publicly. They never really said anything publicly about T.O. except for very vague, very PC nonsense for fear of becoming an enemy and all that entails.
About the only people willing to talk truth with regard to T.O. were "anonymous sources" and thus were quickly dismissed as not existing at all or pot stirrers or, as Witten learned, "cowards."
It didn’t matter that nobody actually knows if Witten was "the source" behind the now somewhat infamous statements to ESPN’s Ed Werder that painted T.O. as a a jealous, selfish jerk. Witten was fingered by T.O. and thereby had to watch as many of his Cowboy teammates — guys who had seen him run down the field in Philly without a helmet on, play with countless injuries, watched what he brought on every play — turned on him.
We’re talking good guys, too, players Witten had been close with who were mad at him. T.O. had been preaching how unfair everything was, how guys like Witten and The RHG and Romo were getting a free pass while defensive players and Coach Wade and him were being demonized. And pretty soon this locker room had turned into a very Us Vs. Them atmosphere by season’s end.
"Us" was T.O. and his posse.
"Them" was Witten, The RHG and, yes, Romo. He tried very hard to stay above this fray. He is the ultimate don’t-rock-the-boat guy but sources say he too had tired of the constancy of T.O., always a story, always mad at somebody, always needing reassurance and the ball and a self-created drama to star in.
Which is what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had to mean when he talked at the NFL Scouting Combine about becoming more Romo-friendly, although, RHG-friendly and Witten-friendly also apply. He finally realized he had to decide, and he chose to listen to the guys who said volumes about T.O.’s departure by not saying anything at all.
You didn’t hear Romo say, "I don’t think it was a good move." You didn’t hear Witten say, "Man, I’m going to miss him." And you didn’t hear The RHG say, "I thought it was bananas."
They knew what a pain in the butt he was, and they knew he had to go.
"A bunch of us were talking and a guy was like, 'Wait, we’re talking about Witten. We know him. This is a good guy, a good teammate,’ " a player said Friday "And you could see the light bulb go on."
And not a second too soon.
Jennifer Floyd Engel, 817-390-7760
