T.O. Won’t Show Until Required To Do So

BasX · Mar 26, 2009

Well, well, well.

A day after some in the media cited Bills receivers Terrell Owens’ attendance at a Wednesday Alzheimer’s event in Washington, D.C., as an appropriate excuse for his failure to attend offseason workouts with his new teammates on Monday and Tuesday, Owens made it clear that there’s no connection between the two.

According the man who loves him a whole lot of him, Owens won’t show up until his presence is required.

“I talked to Coach Jauron prior to the start of the workouts about that,” Owens said Wednesday night, according to Sean Leahy of USA Today. “Right now if there’s nothing mandatory that I have to be a part of, then I won’t intend to be there.”

So does the fact that Owens “talked to” Jauron before the start of workouts mean that Jauron’s OK with it? Yes, but only if the discussion occurred before Owens signed his one-year contract that will pay him $6.5 million guaranteed.

Our guess is that Owens sprang this one on Jauron at some point after the ink was dry.

Before we go any further we this, we should be clear. The workouts are voluntary. Owens is under no obligation to attend, and he is not breaking his contract in any way by opting to work out on his own, or not at all.

But if there’s any man in professional sports who needs to take meaningful steps to bond with potentially skeptical teammates, it’s Owens.

His history has been documented in nauseating detail. Some former teammates love him, some former teammates loathe him. And it’s safe to assume that some of his new teammates know some of his old teammates who fall into the latter category.

Even if none of the various wells have been poisoned by tales (skewed or otherwise) of Owens’ selfishness and narcissism and disruptiveness, the reality is that these men are busting their butts to become better athletes and, more importantly, to begin the process of bonding as a team.

Meanwhile, one of the key pieces of the puzzle has decided to exercise his collectively-bargained right not to spend the time that most of the rest of them are spending getting ready for the season.

It’s not surprising, because Owens has convinced himself that: (1) there’s no reason for any of his new teammates to be wary of him; and (2) he’s got the skills and abilities to simply show up and get the job done.

And there’s nothing Jauron can say or do about it, other than bite his tongue and remind himself that he made this deal with the devil.

The problem is that, with Owens already sowing seeds that will blossom into more of the same stuff we’ve seen from him over the past several years, Jauron might not get much of a return on his soul.
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http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/03/26/to-wont-show-until-required-to-do-so/

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T.O. Won’t Show Until Required To Do So

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