Mora's a guy on T.O.'s side
By PAUL DOMOWITCH
pdomo@aol.com
ORLANDO, Fla. - Terrell Owens has burned bridges in two NFL cities, and counting. He has publicly feuded with his last two quarterbacks. He got into a sideline confrontation with one offensive coordinator and instructed another not to speak to him. His last employer got so fed up with his insubordination that it put him on the shelf for nine games last season, and earlier this month released him.
"They did a thing on wide receivers on the NFL Network the other night," said Atlanta Falcons coach Jim Mora, who spent 7 years as an assistant in San Francisco when Owens was there. "They had a psychologist on talking about why wideouts are the way they are.
"I know he's a great competitor. I know, even though it sometimes looks like he's more interested in individual success, he's more interested in team success. But he wants to have [personal] success as the team is having success.
"At times, he's a great teammate. He's a hard practice player. The only guy I've ever been around that practiced harder was Jerry Rice. When we were in San Francisco, it wasn't uncommon to see him hitting the weights at the complex at 11 o'clock on a Thursday night. Always with his shirt off, of course, looking in the mirror. But sometimes, things just come out."
Mora doesn't view Owens as a bad guy. Egomaniacal? Certainly. Immature? Yeah. Insecure? Most definitely.
But the Falcons coach swears that inside this gridiron Darth Vader beats the heart of a compassionate human being.
"I have more respect for T.O. than most people because I've known him for so long," Mora said. "I watched him from his second year in San Francisco until I left there [in 2003]. I saw the good. I saw the bad. And I recognized the good. I think a lot of people just recognize the bad with him. And quite frankly, there is some bad. But there is some good, too.
"He was the kind of guy, we'd be up at training camp and he might buy four or five guys - free agents fighting to make the team - big-screen TVs to put in their room to make it more comfortable for them. He might buy them a car. He does all that [charity work] with Alzheimer's [disease]. There are things the guy does that show his compassion for people."
Mora said he would have "no problem" having Owens on his roster. But the Falcons were nowhere to be found when Owens became a free agent. Mike Vick is having enough trouble developing as an NFL quarterback without Owens shooting spitballs at him.
"A quarterback and a wide receiver of that caliber have to be able to coexist," Mora said. "Look at what happened in Philadelphia. When [Donovan McNabb and Owens] were in sync, they were unstoppable. When they went away, it all fell apart for them.
"That would be a concern here. Because the first time he [verbally] attacked Mike, we would have a real problem. I mean, the house would crumble like that. Mike wouldn't just cower. We'd have to restrain him."
pdomo@aol.com
ORLANDO, Fla. - Terrell Owens has burned bridges in two NFL cities, and counting. He has publicly feuded with his last two quarterbacks. He got into a sideline confrontation with one offensive coordinator and instructed another not to speak to him. His last employer got so fed up with his insubordination that it put him on the shelf for nine games last season, and earlier this month released him.
"They did a thing on wide receivers on the NFL Network the other night," said Atlanta Falcons coach Jim Mora, who spent 7 years as an assistant in San Francisco when Owens was there. "They had a psychologist on talking about why wideouts are the way they are.
"I know he's a great competitor. I know, even though it sometimes looks like he's more interested in individual success, he's more interested in team success. But he wants to have [personal] success as the team is having success.
"At times, he's a great teammate. He's a hard practice player. The only guy I've ever been around that practiced harder was Jerry Rice. When we were in San Francisco, it wasn't uncommon to see him hitting the weights at the complex at 11 o'clock on a Thursday night. Always with his shirt off, of course, looking in the mirror. But sometimes, things just come out."
Mora doesn't view Owens as a bad guy. Egomaniacal? Certainly. Immature? Yeah. Insecure? Most definitely.
But the Falcons coach swears that inside this gridiron Darth Vader beats the heart of a compassionate human being.
"I have more respect for T.O. than most people because I've known him for so long," Mora said. "I watched him from his second year in San Francisco until I left there [in 2003]. I saw the good. I saw the bad. And I recognized the good. I think a lot of people just recognize the bad with him. And quite frankly, there is some bad. But there is some good, too.
"He was the kind of guy, we'd be up at training camp and he might buy four or five guys - free agents fighting to make the team - big-screen TVs to put in their room to make it more comfortable for them. He might buy them a car. He does all that [charity work] with Alzheimer's [disease]. There are things the guy does that show his compassion for people."
Mora said he would have "no problem" having Owens on his roster. But the Falcons were nowhere to be found when Owens became a free agent. Mike Vick is having enough trouble developing as an NFL quarterback without Owens shooting spitballs at him.
"A quarterback and a wide receiver of that caliber have to be able to coexist," Mora said. "Look at what happened in Philadelphia. When [Donovan McNabb and Owens] were in sync, they were unstoppable. When they went away, it all fell apart for them.
"That would be a concern here. Because the first time he [verbally] attacked Mike, we would have a real problem. I mean, the house would crumble like that. Mike wouldn't just cower. We'd have to restrain him."
posted by The Gryphon at 10:11 PM
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