11/05/24
October 18, 2002
"White men can't dance.": Terrell Owens asserts that since African-American players are inherently more "expressive" than their fellow white players, African-American players are being punished by the NFL for just being themselves. Is this a legitimate complaint or is Owens just being himself by griping for the sake of griping?
Update: Now Owens says race is not an issue in a statement released by the team. Someone must have told him how idiotic he sounded, because I seriously doubt he would do this backpedaling on his own.
posted by bcb2k2 at 10:58 PM on October 18, 2002
I second that sentiment of 'Screw Him'. Living in Dallas, I can attest to the amount of disgust he generated years ago by running back to the star after he scored. George Teague was treated like a hero around here for quite awhile after that. Owens and Randy Moss make a great one-two jerk combination.
posted by jmevius at 10:22 AM on October 19, 2002
If Owens was making a general comment about racism in the NFL or his remarks were motivated to further advance equality in the NFL I'd say that Owens had a point. Sadly this is not the case. Owens' remarks seem to be out of self-pity and were made because he was pissed off about the fine. This just shows Owens selfishness. On the other hand, I must admit what he did do was pretty cool. I have no beef with him signing the football and giving it to his friend. I think it was very creative and not any more braggadocios than the "Lambo Leap." Like the "Lambo Leap," the focus of the stunt was not on the player or the play, but was on the fans. What he did was to simply thank a fan (who happens to a friend of his) for being at the game. It reminded me of baseball player flipping a ball into the stands after a catch. At the end of the day, however, it's too bad Owens couldn't keep his big, fat mouth shut.
posted by Bag Man at 02:05 PM on October 19, 2002
This is just an attempt by someone who has nothing better to say, having done something that he should not have done, trying to avert attention from his actions to something else. In saying this, however, he's just bringing more bad attention to himself. Playing the race card seems to be an all-too-common occurrence, especially by people who do something purely idiotic, then get shocked when someone says they shouldn't have done it. This is not a race issue, no matter how much TO wants to say it is. This is an issue of an idiot athlete not thinking about consequences, believing he's above the game. Screw him, I say.