Oh, there are so many, after one of the wildest days in sports/news media history. We've now clearly reached the Terri Schiavo phase of the T.O. suicide/overdose case, in which everyone feels the need to supply an exact medical diagnosis, despite no inside information, medical knowledge, or any expertise whatsoever.
My hunch? In that press conference, T.O. didn't look to me like someone who had tried to kill himself less than 24 hours before. But he didn't sound honest, either. My guess? He was doing something untoward with the painkiller drugs, whether it's an addiction or simply overdependence. When, in the press conference, he mentioned "Romo," it took me a minute to realize he was referring to backup QB Tony Romo, and not Bill Romanowski. The latter Romo would certainly be the man to approach in regards to obtaining pills, possibly even from his own personal tacklebox.
At any rate, a few unanswered questions that remain, 24 hours after the Overdose That Shook the World:
- If Owens is now popping more pain pills than is generally recommended to heal a minor hand injury during Week 3 of the regular season, how many was he stuffing in his mouth in order to play in the Super Bowl two years ago, post-ankle surgery?
- What was T.O.'s young, attractive, female "publicist" doing at his house late at night? And, what ever happened to his "fiance," the one with the last name "Terrell"?
- Speaking of the soon-to-be-out-of-work PR "professional," what kind of publicist chews gum during a nationally televised press conference?
- And where was Rosenhaus? Did he decide, after last year, that perhaps having him at his side for Owens' bimonthly public apologies wasn't helping? Then again, maybe he was off with his other client.
- Was anyone really surprised when T.O.'s other "agent," Dan Le Batard, wrote an ESPN.com piece called "I Believe T.O?" I am shocked- shocked! This would be like Sean Hannity writing a book called "I Believe Dick Cheney."
- When Bill Parcells went before the cameras, admitted to the press corps that he had no idea what was going on with the Owens story, got testy, and then walked out, isn't that an indication that Jerry Jones has kept him significantly out of the loop? Parcells said he hadn't heard anything was wrong until mid-morning today. I heard something was wrong from reading the AP wire at around midnight last night. It doesn't bode well for the Cowboys if I'm more in the loop than Parcells is.
- And, now that it appears Owens will return to football as though nothing happened, how much crazier does this situation make the Eagles-Cowboys game on October 8? I can predict the litany already: Fans throw aspirin bottles at Owens, tell him to kill himself, chant "OD, OD, OD, OD," and probably worse. National media is OUTRAGED at behavior. Philly fans are OUTRAGED that they're singled out when other cities are (cough) worse. Of course, they'll be even more OUTRAGED after the game if the Eagles lose, at which point a couple dozen lunatics will suggest to WIP that hey, despite it all, they should've kept Owens instead of McNabb after all.
Like they wouldn't cheer at the Linc if Owens suffered any kind of injury. I know I would.
Posted by Stephen Silver at September 28, 2006 02:06 AMI can't find a good word how I feel about all this. Icky might work, but it doesn't hit the weird bemused feeling I have with all this.
It would almost seem like a really sick publicity stunt, were the sports media not inclined to talk about T.O. every third story anyway....
Posted by: Tommy at September 28, 2006 01:49 PM