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TO in the ER

I have no idea what the story is, but the AP is reporting right now that Terrell Owens has been taken to a Dallas-area emergency room. Expect to here more, a lot, throughout the day Wednesday, whatever it is that happened.

UPDATE: In probably the biggest holy-shit sports moment of the year, reports out of Dallas now say that Owens in fact attempted suicide by intentionally overdosing on pain medication. I'll leave to the actual news outlets investigating the matter to update exactly what's going on, but meanwhile, a few quick thoughts:

- Such a thing, a superstar athlete attempting suicide while still an active player, appears completely unprecedented in American sports. The only other I can think of is Dimitrius Underwood, the defensive lineman who the Vikings drafted in the first round in 1999, before he went AWOL during training camp, and later attempted suicide on two different occasions. There was also Barret Robbins' pre-Super Bowl meltdown in 2002, but I'm not sure that counts as a suicide attempt. I might be forgetting someone else, and of course a few other athletes (Donnie Moore, most notably) have killed themselves after retiring.

- The other biggest surprise is that Owens, whose reputation as the world's most narcissistic athlete certainly precedes him, has never in the past shown a hint of depression. Although it is certainly possible that the narcissism was in fact meant to mask deeper demons. Today is certainly not the first time "Terrell Owens" and "mental illness" have appeared in the same sentence.

- The suicide attempt likely means that Owens will not play football for awhile, and certainly not for the much-ballyhooed showdown between the Eagles and Cowboys in Philly on October 8. If the idea is to preserve Owens' mental stability and psychological well-being, having him go onto the field as the most reviled former athlete in a city's history probably isn't the greatest idea.

- Everyone's going to say now that "we can't make fun of TO anymore," and that his status as pro sports' #2 punching bag (after Barry Bonds) will now be in jeopardy. That's probably true for most people, but don't count the Philly fans out yet. There are worse lines they've crossed before.

- Big gaffe this morning on Philly's SportsTalk 950. First, nationally syndicated host Tony Bruno (who I'm normally a big fan of) trashed the reports of a suicide attempt, calling them implausible and criticizing a Dallas radio station of running with the story before it had been confirmed. When it WAS confirmed, Bruno continued to bash them, for being a mere radio station, when they had in fact gotten the story right. Then, even worse, SportsTalk 950 ran a commercial for a promotional contest they'd been running in which listeners were to guess which day Owens would have a major falling out with the Cowboys. The contest? "When Will TO Blow Up?" Don't expect to here that promo ever again.

- And finally, how long until someone finds a way to blame TO's suicide attempt on Donovan McNabb?

Posted by Stephen Silver at September 27, 2006 12:55 AM