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"Yet Another Terrell Owens Controversy"

Terrell Owens, or TO as he is more popularly known, has been no stranger to controversy over his ten year career.

He is also widely known for his often flamboyant and exhuberant touchdown celebrations as well as being on of the NFL's most successful wide receivers.

But he was far from being a high achiever in high school and didn't manage to get a starting position until his senior year.

After high school he accepted a scholarship to go to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Initially he concentrated on basketball and track but he also played football outside of these so it wasn't until his Sophomore year that he got his breakthrough in football and became a starter.

But the following season he had to face double marking due to his success in his first season as a starter.

In 1996 the San Francisco 49ers drafted Terrell Owens in the third round of the NFL Draft and he got the opportunity to play alongside his idol, Jerry Rice.

The 1997 NFL season was very good for Terrell Owens and the 49ers and he became a big name for them after Jerry Rice dropped out with a torn ACL.

The 1998 season however proved to be disasterous for them as did the following seasons. In the 2000 season they only managed to win 6 games. The teams performance was also hampered by an ongoing feud between Owens and Garcia as well as Steve Mariucci, the teams head coach.

The 2002 season proved to be more successful as these feuds were put to one side, but despite this Mariucci was fired at the end of the season. After another poor season in 2003 Terrell Owens decided he had had enough and announced he was going to leave the 49ers.

But this was to prove more difficult than he anticipated as the 49ers insisted that his previous agent had missed the deadline to void the last years of his contract. The San Francisco 49ers then, believing they still held Owens rights, traded him to the Baltimore Ravens for a second round pick in the 2004 draft.

But Owens disputed the trade and assuming he would become a free agent he negotiated a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles whose fans were eager for him to join their team.

Eventually a deal was struck with and the Ravens got their second round pick back from the 49ers and the 49ers received a conditional 5th round pick in exchange for the rights to Terrell Owens.

His, and the fans, joy at his joining the Eagles was to be short lived however.

The 2004 season started of excellently for both the Eagles and Owens and he gained a huge fan base and popularity both locally and nationally.

After a horse collar tackle from Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams, Terrell Owens sustained a very badly sprained ankle and fracture fibula.

It was mainly due to this incident that this type of tackle was outlawed in the NFL shortly after he recieved this injury.

The Eagles were heading for the Superbowl and despite everyone's protestations, the doctors advice, and heavy criticism he insisted he would play no matter what.

When the big day finally arrived not only did Terrell Owens play but he also played well, silencing his critics and proving them wrong.

After hiring a new agent in 2005 he announced he was going to try and renegotiate his contract with the Eagles.

His relationship with the Eagles became strained as a result a deteriorated further after he made a remark directed at Donovan McNabb. Also an added strain was put on the relationship when the Team owner, Jeffrey Lurie and Club President wouldn't give him their permission to play in the summer basketball league.

As training camp got nearer problems with the contract negotiations flared up as the Eagles insisted on sticking to their policy of not renegotiating players contracts.

The original contract, although quoted as being worth $49 million, was heavily back loaded and his guaranteed salary was in fact below the leagues average for a wide receiver of his caliber.

Things became more strained and after a heated exchange with Andy Reid Terrell Owens was suspended from play for 4 weeks and he was sent an official legal document known as a Notice of Unsatisfactory Work Performance which stated the behaviour he was expected to adhere to on his return, which he did.

Owens remained unhappy and continued to voice his displeasure with the teams management and Donovan McNabb resulting in the Eagles suspending him for another 4 weeks, without pay and then deactivating him for the rest of the season.

The culmination leading to this suspension was in a radio interview with ESPN analyst and friend Michael Irving during which he made several derogatory statements about the Eagles and called them a "classless organization".

The Eagles finally released Terrell Owens from his contract on March 14, 2006 and four days later he signed a three year contract with the Dallas Cowboys.

This decision wasn't very popular with many of the Cowboys fans who were still upset with him for disrespecting their star symbol in an earlier game.

Whilst he was still playing with the San Francisco 49ers and after making a touchdown he ran to the midfield to celebrate by dancing on the Dallas Cowboys famous star logo.

On his second attempt at "celebrating" on their star the Cowboys safety George Teague sent him sprawling with a punch.

Teague was later ejected for his actions and Owens was fined $24,000 and suspended for a week.

Terrell Owens is likely to keep us entertained with his touchdown celebrations, contravercy and talent for many more seasons as he is well known for is often flamboyant, extravagent and outlandish celebrations after scoring a touchdown. Often getting him into trouble and fined on many occassions.

After leaving the Eagles Terrell Owens quoted on is radio show that if he could go back to the 2004 off season he would not signed for the Eagles.

His 2006 season however was to be plagued with problems as he damaged one of his fingers and needed surgery to correct the injury.

Days before he was due to return he supposedly "accidentally overdosed on his medication".

But many reports in the media stated that he had purposely overdosed in an attempt to kill himself and a police report filed on the incident also suggested that this was the case by stating that had been found by his publicist unresponsive with an empty bottle of painkillers in his hand.

Both Owens and his publicist denied this and insisted that he had had an allergic reaction to the medication.

A week later he returned to play against his old team-mates the Philadelphia Eagles and was met with angry cheers and taunts from the Eagle Fans as well as chants of "OD" throughout the game.

Owens as a result struggled throughout the game a dropped a few passes. In a later game against the Atlanta Falcons Owen's injured a tendon in his finger, the same finger he broke some weeks previous but instead of taking the recommended surgery he risked permanent damage by waiting for the end of the season to have it fixed.

Despite his injury Terrell Owens went on to lead the league in touchdowns and had two operations on his right ring finger before the start of the 2007-8 season.

The Dallas Cowboys have also since picked up Terrell Owens $3million bonus option for an extra year.

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