Much of the Blame goes to the Eagles. They swooped in and stole TO from the Ravens, they knew exactly what they were getting. A extreamely talented and an even more viotile player. He is extreamely competitive on and off the field, it's what makes him tick.
With that being said, this is the reason I believe the Eagles were wrong. When T.O began talking about a new contract. The Eagles front office should have brought him in immeadiatley and had a sit down. They should of had a 2 way communication. Instead they blew him off. On the Basis that they were "The Eagles" and they don't "Renegotiate" no matter who you are. Just ask Bobby Taylor, Ike Reese, Jeremiah Trotter, Hugh Douglas, Duce Staley, Troy Vincent, Corey Simon the list goes on and on. Look how much they appreciated Derrick Burgess's play against Vick in the championship game last year. They let him go. I am not in Philadelphia's locker room but I am sure the way management is treating players as a commodity and not men, I am sure this is really starting to piss the players off.
What are they thinking. They have more money under the cap then any team in the NFL the last 4 years and they will not sign thier role players. They are close to winning it all and they continue to let key players leave. Lets all admit that the Eagles troubles have not been T.O's fault. The Eagles main problem this year have been thier depleted defense.
So T.O sees all that extra money not being used. He thought that he deserved a raise. IMO I agree. Sure it was only a year after he signed a contact, but look how much happened in that year. T.O took this team to the next level, they steam rolled through the NFL, He was unstoppable (I had him in every Fantasy league I was in last year) He was seriously injured and still played in the Super Bowl and He played like a man possessed. Give the man the money show some appreciation. He caught his 100th touchdown and there's no mention of it. No they are the "Eagles" they don't do that. Give me a break. They decided to fight TO in the court of public oppinion. The Eagles won by a landslide. They won, everyone hates TO.
Sure they won, but really what did they win. This situation coupled with how the Eagles have dealt with the other players, have set this team back 4 years. They should be playing for a Super Bowl. It's all the Eagles managements fault not TO's. The argument they didn't want to redo TO's contact because then every player would want a new contract is weak. Not every player is TO, and they know it. The Eagles didn't redo the contract because they think they are bigger then the NFL not TO.
The reason I have made this argument, is because I believe, if TO was on the Cowboys, none of this would have happened . It would never have gotten this far. Parcells would have called him in and had a man to man conversation with him. Then Jerry would have called a press conference to annouce, that he greatly appreciated the way TO had helped this organization and that he wanted to reward him with a new contract. I believe if TO were to come to the Cowboys he would behave . He's not perfect but Parcells and Jones know how to deal with people unlike Ried and Banner
There are always 2 sides to every story:
1) the Eagles hurt Owens feelings. (He's highly Sensitive)
2) Then they disrespected him (by not even talking to him and treating him like a child)
3)Then they showed him no love and made him embarrass himself in the media. (It was to easy, they knew he was too high strung and would say all the wrong things, they figured they would come out looking like the good guys in the end)
I'll finish by saying this team and this organization is finished. Ried has lost total control of this thing. They choose Mcnabb over Owens, but it was never about McNabb and Owens. It was about the Eagles and how they treat thier players. This fight has been going on for years and finally came to a head with Owens. The Eagles should have gave in this one time. They gambled and lost.
