Owens: Leave a message after the tone
Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley
Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens has upgraded his phone plan since league officials couldn't reach him two weeks ago for a random drug test. Here's the video of him discussing his entry into the "reasonable cause" testing program, which is reserved for players who don't return messages promptly.
T.O. was upset about the "negative connotation" in the story. He said this after a reporter soft-shoed his way into asking, "Are you frustrated that missing a phone call has blown up as big as it has?"
T.O. said he would submit to 1,000 tests, which seems somewhat excessive. But seriously, could a human being provide that many samples on an annual basis? I'm thinking stage-fright alone would limit you to 500.
Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram certainly has an interesting take on the NFL's treatment of T.O. Funny that we rarely (never) read accounts of players being placed on the "reasonable cause" list, but it somehow slips out when a marquee player is involved. Sounds like the NFL (or perhaps the players union) is beating its chest about its stringent program.
Meanwhile, the David Jacobs story continues to evolve. ESPN first broke the news about Titans linebacker Ryan Fowler receiving a letter from the NFL about facing a possible suspension for violating the league's anabolic steroids policy.
Dallas Morning News investigative reporter Gary Jacobson had been talking to Jacobs, the Plano, Texas-based mastermind of one of the nation's largest steroid rings, about his relationship with Fowler. Jacobs was sentenced to three years probation May 1 and subsequently said he wanted to help the NFL clean up its game. He met with the league three weeks later, and then last week, he killed himself in the same room where his ex-girlfriend was shot dead.
I got to know Fowler pretty well when he played for the Cowboys. He was a free-agent rookie linebacker out of Duke who clung to one of the final roster spots. I never noticed a huge difference in his body type after he apparently met Jacobs in 2006, but he absolutely became a better football player.
I've read about how players such as the late Lyle Alzado exhibited wild mood swings and rage when they were on steroids, but Fowler never seemed to display any of those behaviors. The only thing that comes to mind is an offseason fight with former Cowboys center Al Johnson over a jersey number. But that incident happened because Johnson wanted to take a number (55) that had tremendous sentimental value to Fowler.
Here's the line from Jacobson's story that probably made the league cringe:
"In conversations with Ryan in private, he's talking about how he felt bad," Jacobs told The News earlier this year. "He didn't know if it was fair [to take steroids]. Then, when he talked to his buddies ... he found out they were all doing it, so he didn't feel bad anymore."
How many of those buddies does the league know about? That remains to be seen. For now, I'm sure the league would prefer that we focus on their "harsh" response to a man not returning calls.
Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens has upgraded his phone plan since league officials couldn't reach him two weeks ago for a random drug test. Here's the video of him discussing his entry into the "reasonable cause" testing program, which is reserved for players who don't return messages promptly.
T.O. was upset about the "negative connotation" in the story. He said this after a reporter soft-shoed his way into asking, "Are you frustrated that missing a phone call has blown up as big as it has?"
T.O. said he would submit to 1,000 tests, which seems somewhat excessive. But seriously, could a human being provide that many samples on an annual basis? I'm thinking stage-fright alone would limit you to 500.
Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram certainly has an interesting take on the NFL's treatment of T.O. Funny that we rarely (never) read accounts of players being placed on the "reasonable cause" list, but it somehow slips out when a marquee player is involved. Sounds like the NFL (or perhaps the players union) is beating its chest about its stringent program.
Meanwhile, the David Jacobs story continues to evolve. ESPN first broke the news about Titans linebacker Ryan Fowler receiving a letter from the NFL about facing a possible suspension for violating the league's anabolic steroids policy.
Dallas Morning News investigative reporter Gary Jacobson had been talking to Jacobs, the Plano, Texas-based mastermind of one of the nation's largest steroid rings, about his relationship with Fowler. Jacobs was sentenced to three years probation May 1 and subsequently said he wanted to help the NFL clean up its game. He met with the league three weeks later, and then last week, he killed himself in the same room where his ex-girlfriend was shot dead.
I got to know Fowler pretty well when he played for the Cowboys. He was a free-agent rookie linebacker out of Duke who clung to one of the final roster spots. I never noticed a huge difference in his body type after he apparently met Jacobs in 2006, but he absolutely became a better football player.
I've read about how players such as the late Lyle Alzado exhibited wild mood swings and rage when they were on steroids, but Fowler never seemed to display any of those behaviors. The only thing that comes to mind is an offseason fight with former Cowboys center Al Johnson over a jersey number. But that incident happened because Johnson wanted to take a number (55) that had tremendous sentimental value to Fowler.
Here's the line from Jacobson's story that probably made the league cringe:
"In conversations with Ryan in private, he's talking about how he felt bad," Jacobs told The News earlier this year. "He didn't know if it was fair [to take steroids]. Then, when he talked to his buddies ... he found out they were all doing it, so he didn't feel bad anymore."
How many of those buddies does the league know about? That remains to be seen. For now, I'm sure the league would prefer that we focus on their "harsh" response to a man not returning calls.
posted by The Gryphon at 10:33 AM
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