Reflections on Terrell Owens

On Monday, a 38 year old WR was working out for a team trying to earn a chance to get on an NFL team.  He had been out of the league for a year and was trying to get one more shot.  His workout was impressive enough that the team agreed to terms to sign him to a 1 year deal.  That team was the Seattle Seahawks.  That player was Terrell Owens.

When I heard that T.O. was working out for the Seahawks, I didn't know what to think.  Owens, for all intents and purposes, had hit rock bottom.  He was out of the league last year after coming off of knee surgery.  He tried to do a workout last October and no teams took a flyer on him.  He ended up signing with the Allen Wranglers, an Indoor Football League team (which is a rung lower that Arena Football) and didn't even finish the season before booted off.  He's had financial & personal problems involving bad investments & child support.  And this was only a few months ago.  So needless to say, I was somewhat surprised that head coach Pete Carroll was giving T.O. a tryout after all that.

Then word came out after the tryout, Owens ran a sub 4.5 40yds.  That's fast no matter how old or young you are.  They said he looked "ridiculous" (in the good sense of the word).  Because of this, that is why they signed him to a 1 year, 1 million dollar contract.

Much has been said about Owens, how he's narcassistic.  How he disrupts the locker room.  How he's bad for the chemistry of a team.  And given his recent history with the indoor football team, it's hard to argue against it.  However, he is a great talent.  He is gifted athletically.  He has a high "football" I.Q.  Even at 38, he's probably in the top 10 WR in the league if he truly is 100%.  And given the need for WR in Seattle and the contract that they signed here, it's a low risk/medium to high reward.

Personally, I do hope that Owens turns his life around.  I do think this will be his last shot in the NFL and I think he understands that.  Time will tell if he truly has changed.  But if he has & he's playing at a level that he can, then things just got more interesting at CenturyLink Field.  As some have been saying on Twitter, get your lattes ready.

Pacman and Second Chances

It seems like only yesterday I was making a similar post like this (it actually was about ten months ago). But it seems like after hearing what I heard yesterday, it's prompted me to write again on the subject of Adam "Pacman" Jones, the now ex-Dallas Cowboys DB. He was cut by the team (who traded for him last offseason, then subsequently got suspended for a couple of games in the middle of the season and is now under allegations involving an incident a few years ago at an Atlanta (yes you can guess) strip club.

Jones and his lawyer were on the CBS NFL pregame show to talk about that and his off the field issues. Now granted, he did say in the piece that he is dealing with alcohol problem, going to AA meetings and seeing a counselor. But when asked by host James Brown about strip clubs, Jones' response was this: "Strip clubs are just like any other club."

Let that sink in for a moment...."Strip clubs are like any other club." Hmmm, I'm no rocket scientist but I'm pretty sure that a strip club is not just like any other club. It kind of says so in the name. What doesn't make it like any other club is the 'strip' part of it. When he said that I laughed (not really the proper response I know but first reaction) and then I just shook my head. Here is a young guy (he's younger than me at 25) who has all the talent in the world. He has been blessed with athletic ability that not too many people have. He has been given chances in a league that is hard to get a job in. And yet, he has done the things that he's done.

It's an object lesson in two ways. One, it should be a reminder that we are no different that Pacman. We are all given talent in some way by God. And we don't use it like we should and squander it because we live for ourselves and not for Him. Yet, in his mercy and compassion, we are able to have a second chance (and third, and fourth) because of Jesus and the work He did on the cross. In having a relationship with Jesus, we can get our act together and use the gifts we've been given properly and to our fullest potential. Two, it's a prime example of showing love and forgiveness to others. Yes, what Pacman has done is wrong and he will have to live with the consequences of those actions, but we are called to forgive one another. I hope that there are people in his life now (if not I hope some will come his way soon) that will love on him and show mercy and forgiveness.

I don't think Pacman is too far gone. If I can be saved, he can be saved. I'm no better than he is. I'm just a sinner saved from myself by the grace of God. I hope that Pacman will turn his life around. We'll see how the next few months and years play out. I'm sure we haven't heard the last of Pacman...