Dallas' T.O. looks familiar to Shanahan
The wide receiver and Broncos coach recall their early 2006 meeting that didn't become a done deal.
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 08/15/2007 11:23:54 PM MDT
Irving, Texas - Mike Shanahan arranged to meet the ostracized football star at his favorite Denver steakhouse.
This was a week after Shana- han's Broncos missed a great chance to play in Super Bowl XL by losing at home in the AFC championship game to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And it was nearly three months after the Philadelphia Eagles booted Terrell Owens off their team.
Maybe, in 2006, Owens could lift the Broncos, and vice versa?
Shanahan was running a little late to the restaurant and his meeting with Owens, but soon after he arrived, the Broncos coach started checking into the mind, soul and character of this troubled but highly talented wide receiver.
"I think I ate light," Owens said Wednesday in front of his Dallas Cowboys locker. "A salad or something. I didn't have any preconceived notions. We sat around and talked. He was very interested in having me becoming a Bronco at that time. As I was."
Later, Owens wound up back at Shanahan's house and the visit continued.
No deal was struck. Shanahan eventually offered Owens an incentive-laden contract proposal, but Owens accepted the Cowboys' three-year, $25 million offer instead.
"Obviously, there was an interest there," Shanahan said Wednesday.
For the first time since they said goodbye at Shanahan's doorstep on Jan. 30, 2006, Owens and the Broncos coach were in the same neighborhood.
The Broncos have joined the Cowboys for two days of two-a- day practices at the Cowboys' headquarters. The teams will practice separately Friday before meeting in a preseason game Saturday night at Texas Stadium.
"I never got a chance to thank him even for the consideration," Owens said of Shanahan. "But, yeah, there was an opportunity there."
Following the Wednesday morning practice in stifling heat, Owens was standing in the Cowboys' air-conditioned locker room, amiably answering all questions from a media mob. Some wanted to know if he thought the Broncos' Champ Bailey and Dré Bly were the best cornerback tandem he had faced, even though Owens and Dallas' first-string offense spent most of the morning going against Domonique Foxworth and the Broncos' second-string defense.
"T.O.'s an above-board type of guy," said Foxworth, who covered Owens two years ago during a game against Philadelphia. "It's all hype when people say bad stuff about him. That's been my experience. I respect him a great deal. It's been fun working against a talented guy like that."
The Broncos didn't get T.O. during the free-agent signing period of 2006, but a month later, they got Baby T.O. in the NFL draft.
"Yeah, the No. 15 guy?" Owens said.
No. 15 for the Broncos is Brandon Marshall, a 6-foot-4, 222- pound wide receiver. Owens is 6-3 and 224. After missing most of training camp because of a thigh injury, Marshall was promoted to the Broncos' first- string offense Wednesday for the first time.
Owens has been starting for going on 11 years, and Wednesday he was informed by Bailey and Bly they sometimes refer to Marshall as Baby T.O.
"They started calling me that when I was at Central Florida, but when it really hit the media was at the (scouting) combine," Marshall said, referring to the NFL's annual gathering of draft- eligible college prospects in Indianapolis. "I heard broadcasters, commentators call me Baby T.O."
Owens and Marshall played college football in programs not known as powerhouses. Owens was a third-round draft pick out of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1996. Marshall was a fourth- round draft pick out of Central Florida in 2006.
Owens once broke bread at a dinner table with Shanahan. Marshall recently was pushed off a training table by Shanahan.
T.O. and Baby T.O. were late bloomers. Owens wasn't a starter in high school until his senior year. Marshall was a safety his junior year in college.
"There's some similarities there," Owens said, smiling. "We'll see."
Will Marshall introduce himself to Owens this week?
"Nah, I don't think so," Marshall said. "Maybe, after the game."
The manner of Marshall's response indicated he didn't want to seem presumptuous. So there is humility in one when it's not always apparent in the other.
Besides, enough has been made of the Broncos courting T.O. Both have moved on and each seems fine without the other.
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 08/15/2007 11:23:54 PM MDT
Irving, Texas - Mike Shanahan arranged to meet the ostracized football star at his favorite Denver steakhouse.
This was a week after Shana- han's Broncos missed a great chance to play in Super Bowl XL by losing at home in the AFC championship game to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And it was nearly three months after the Philadelphia Eagles booted Terrell Owens off their team.
Maybe, in 2006, Owens could lift the Broncos, and vice versa?
Shanahan was running a little late to the restaurant and his meeting with Owens, but soon after he arrived, the Broncos coach started checking into the mind, soul and character of this troubled but highly talented wide receiver.
"I think I ate light," Owens said Wednesday in front of his Dallas Cowboys locker. "A salad or something. I didn't have any preconceived notions. We sat around and talked. He was very interested in having me becoming a Bronco at that time. As I was."
Later, Owens wound up back at Shanahan's house and the visit continued.
No deal was struck. Shanahan eventually offered Owens an incentive-laden contract proposal, but Owens accepted the Cowboys' three-year, $25 million offer instead.
"Obviously, there was an interest there," Shanahan said Wednesday.
For the first time since they said goodbye at Shanahan's doorstep on Jan. 30, 2006, Owens and the Broncos coach were in the same neighborhood.
The Broncos have joined the Cowboys for two days of two-a- day practices at the Cowboys' headquarters. The teams will practice separately Friday before meeting in a preseason game Saturday night at Texas Stadium.
"I never got a chance to thank him even for the consideration," Owens said of Shanahan. "But, yeah, there was an opportunity there."
Following the Wednesday morning practice in stifling heat, Owens was standing in the Cowboys' air-conditioned locker room, amiably answering all questions from a media mob. Some wanted to know if he thought the Broncos' Champ Bailey and Dré Bly were the best cornerback tandem he had faced, even though Owens and Dallas' first-string offense spent most of the morning going against Domonique Foxworth and the Broncos' second-string defense.
"T.O.'s an above-board type of guy," said Foxworth, who covered Owens two years ago during a game against Philadelphia. "It's all hype when people say bad stuff about him. That's been my experience. I respect him a great deal. It's been fun working against a talented guy like that."
The Broncos didn't get T.O. during the free-agent signing period of 2006, but a month later, they got Baby T.O. in the NFL draft.
"Yeah, the No. 15 guy?" Owens said.
No. 15 for the Broncos is Brandon Marshall, a 6-foot-4, 222- pound wide receiver. Owens is 6-3 and 224. After missing most of training camp because of a thigh injury, Marshall was promoted to the Broncos' first- string offense Wednesday for the first time.
Owens has been starting for going on 11 years, and Wednesday he was informed by Bailey and Bly they sometimes refer to Marshall as Baby T.O.
"They started calling me that when I was at Central Florida, but when it really hit the media was at the (scouting) combine," Marshall said, referring to the NFL's annual gathering of draft- eligible college prospects in Indianapolis. "I heard broadcasters, commentators call me Baby T.O."
Owens and Marshall played college football in programs not known as powerhouses. Owens was a third-round draft pick out of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1996. Marshall was a fourth- round draft pick out of Central Florida in 2006.
Owens once broke bread at a dinner table with Shanahan. Marshall recently was pushed off a training table by Shanahan.
T.O. and Baby T.O. were late bloomers. Owens wasn't a starter in high school until his senior year. Marshall was a safety his junior year in college.
"There's some similarities there," Owens said, smiling. "We'll see."
Will Marshall introduce himself to Owens this week?
"Nah, I don't think so," Marshall said. "Maybe, after the game."
The manner of Marshall's response indicated he didn't want to seem presumptuous. So there is humility in one when it's not always apparent in the other.
Besides, enough has been made of the Broncos courting T.O. Both have moved on and each seems fine without the other.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:52 PM
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