The catastrophe known as Terrell Owens and the ensuing circus has at times seemed so surreal that it could have only come from a movie. Remember in GoodFellas when Joe Pesci’s character Tommy ambushes Billy Batts in Henry’s bar? Owens is Pesci, the loose cannon who you love to hate until he turns that cannon on you. Sure, Billy Batts was kind of a prick, but he was a made-man, and untouchable. As the movie goes, Tommy gets whacked later.
If Owens is Pesci, that makes McNabb Batts, and the Eagles are the mob. Just like GoodFellas, the mob always wins. In this case, the Eagles have whacked T.O. where it hurts most, his wallet.
One of the most interesting angles of the T.O. suspension is that Owens stands to lose about $2.5 million of his $3.25 million base salary for the year. Apparently, the Eagles had included a provision in Owens’ contract that stipulated he would have to return $1.725 million of his signing bonus if he was suspended more than one game for “conduct detrimental to the team.” So, on top of the damage Owens has done to his reputation, the Eagles have gone beyond hardball.
The move is pure genius on the part of the Eagles. The organization saw this day coming when they signed the petulant All-Pro. They saw it coming in training camp, and rather than try and stop Owens from derailing the bandwagon, they let him make a fool of himself?????several times, actually, and in the process they let him write his own sentence.
With their handling of the Owens situation, the Eagles sent a huge message to the sports landscape; when you get a guy like this on your team, just let him burn himself out. T.O. wanted more money. He’ll get it now with the tax break that comes with losing $2.5 million in income for a year. By putting such a substantial dent in Owens’ bottom-line, the Eagles may have set a precedent that will change the way players deal with organizations.
After this debacle, it can be expected that the players’ union will argue for guaranteed contracts in the next round of collective bargaining. In many ways, it would have averted the whole situation. If Owens had known he was guaranteed $49 million on his contract, he might not have raised such a stink to get it all now. Then again, Owens is such an eccentric, who can be sure?
To the players, the Eagles must seem an example of everything wrong with the man. To the owners, the organization took a stand against primadonna “me first” athletes. That divide will only grow as the two sides prepare to sit down following the season’s end. If this past week is any indication, both sides had better be prepared to go to the mattresses.
