Skip Bayless' Latest Offering Of Projectile Vomit.

[Rome]

By Skip Bayless
Page 2

You won't get a drop of sympathy from these tear ducts for "tough, no-nonsense" Eagles coach Andy Reid.

Or for team president Joe "Hold That Bottom Line" Banner.

Or for owner Jeffrey Lurie, who has a reputation for showing the door to stars who demand that the Eagles show them the money.
 
Feels like T.O.'s been holding the ball, and pulling the strings, doesn't it?
Or even for quarterback Donovan McNabb, a good company man and great leader who has always been able to laugh off locker-room controversies the way he shrugs off pass rushers.

The last few days, I have laughed until I've nearly cried at how these NFL pillars have been upended by the media-manipulated attacks of one of the most brilliant and unscrupulous PR minds in sports -- that of Terrell Eldorado Owens.

Wow, has he ever taken these old-schoolers to school. The men who run the Eagles continue to believe they can teach this guy a lesson -- which means they haven't learned theirs.

I don't blame Owens for the migraine of a mess the Eagles find themselves in. I blame the Eagles.

Owens, who has always been as self-destructively flawed as he is talented, is predictably following the same team-wrecking pattern he did in his last four seasons in San Francisco.

Yet the men who run the Eagles have been so arrogantly stubborn that they continue to believe they can control a guy who had the men who ran the 49ers -- Bill Walsh, Terry Donahue, Steve Mariucci and Dennis Erickson -- throwing up their hands in defeat. Those four have coached lots of difficult players. But those four concluded Owens was unreachable and far more trouble than he's worth.

Trust me: Privately, those four are chortling "told you so" chortles as they watch Owens take apart the Eagles' organization piece by piece.

He doesn't fight fair. But oh, can he use his awesome media platform to fight.

As I wrote at the time, the Eagles should have traded Owens soon after he publicly attacked McNabb -- the organization's cornerstone -- saying that he, Owens, wasn't the one who got tired in the Super Bowl. McNabb publicly lashed back, but soon extended an olive branch, inviting Owens to the unity-building workouts McNabb hosts in Phoenix.

Owens basically told McNabb what he could do with his olive branch.

Then, of course, Owens decided he was worth Randy Moss money.

That, for sure, was when the Eagles should have auctioned off Owens to the highest bidder, while he still had his "Super Bowl hero" aura. The Eagles could have told other teams that McNabb and Owens had a private squabble going and that it was in their best interests to trade him for a starting receiver.

But Eagles management was too smugly proud. No way were they going to let any player dictate to the front office.

I suggested an Owens-for-Jerry Porter swap with the Raiders. But I was told Raiders owner Al Davis loves Porter, who is four years younger than Owens, a little faster, just as big and nearly as talented. Still, some on-the-verge team would have taken the plunge with Owens. Dennis Green's Cardinals? Marvin Lewis' Bengals?

But now that the rest of the league has watched Owens go after two figures as respected as Reid and McNabb, who knows?

Yet incredibly, the Eagles didn't bother protecting themselves at receiver in the draft or free agency. The Eagles had more draft picks than any other team, yet they failed to trade up in the first round to take a receiver capable of making an impact as a rookie. Reid, who isn't fond of playing rookies, sat tight and took Georgia's Reggie Brown in the second round.

Advantage, Owens.

"Tough, no-nonsense" Andy had heard and had enough of Freddie Mitchell and let him walk. Mitchell isn't Owens, but he certainly isn't bad.
 
Andy Reid has his hands full, to say the least.
Advantage, Owens.

Then Owens got his biggest break when Todd Pinkston blew an Achilles tendon and was lost for the season.

Huge advantage, Owens.

The Eagles put all their eggs in his basket. Now they're down to one other wide receiver with marginal NFL experience -- diminutive burner Greg Lewis, who has 24 career catches.

Now the Eagles are being held hostage by Terrible Owens.

Oh, how I've chuckled watching him shock Reid and McNabb with his sucker punches.

When he arrived at camp wearing Army fatigues, the Eagles were officially in trouble. His message: I'm going to war with management, with my teammates and with the fans.

Owens snubbed team leaders and failed to show at a mandatory autograph session. Resentment boiled in other Eagles as they were asked over and over about Owens. When T.O. pulled his groin, Reid felt obligated to volunteer to the media that Owens was indeed hurt.

Finally, on Day 10 of Eagles Held Hostage, Owens pulled one of his "I'm too good to practice with the team" routines. When he appeared healthy enough to catch passes from a machine on an adjacent practice field, Reid boiled over.

He and Owens exchanged words. A short time later, Reid sent Owens home for a week.

Continued...

[Rome]

Continued...

So why did Owens wind up lifting weights later that day in the driveway of his New Jersey home? Because he was delighted to see that he could attract as much media to his home as the Eagles did to their practices. Owens wanted to show the Eagles that he could get as much attention as they could while doing a solo workout and giving a record number of "no comments."

Right on schedule the following afternoon, Reid told the media at camp that he would keep this between "me and T.O." -- he was still using Owens' nickname, as if they were still tight and could work this out -- and that "everything will be kept in-house."

And right on schedule, Owens took everything right to the outhouse.

Imagine the power he must feel: Whenever he feels like it, he can get a national TV camera in his living room.

From his home on Thursday evening, he was interviewed on "Pardon the Interruption," at halftime of ESPN's exhibition game, and on "SportsCenter." It was bombshell TV because Owens took the low road.

He said Reid told him to shut up. He said offensive coordinator Brad Childress had been saying sarcastic hellos to him because he wouldn't talk in meetings. And he called McNabb a hypocrite for saying he didn't want to talk to Owens because, said Owens, McNabb's brother had tried to arrange a meeting between the quarterback and receiver.

All shocking, low-blow revelations.

Typical Terrible.

He knows he's backing the Eagles deeper and deeper into a corner they don't know how to get out of.

McNabb fell right into the trap the following day by attempting to respond without responding. For a half hour of torturous TV, poor McNabb tried to say this didn't bother him at all as it became more and more apparent it was bothering the hell out of him.

Responding at all was beneath McNabb's dignity.

If McNabb hasn't already, he should be telling Reid there's no way this football team should be forced to accept this guy back in the locker room or huddle. Yet McNabb continued to tell the media that, sure, he could still have a "business relationship" with Owens. It came off as if McNabb were all but groveling for Owens to please come back and give him a chance to win the Super Bowl.

For that matter, how can Reid continue to maintain respect from his players if he allows Owens to call him out on national TV and accept him back on Wednesday? Reid should have never sold his coaching soul to this guy to begin with, but now he must preserve what's left of his dignity.

Yet all indications are that the Eagles have dug in their heels and will try to force Owens to play for his current contract.

That will be season suicide.

As Owens warned the other night on ESPN, he will return in his Army fatigues.

But where was he Saturday night? Back in his offseason home, Atlanta, watching the team he now wants to play for -- Michael Vick's Falcons.

Where will he be on opening Monday night? Probably in an Eagles uniform playing against the Falcons in Atlanta. Don't be surprised if he has a big game, to remind the Falcons just how good he can be.

The Eagles must have been thrilled T.O. attended that Falcons game.
Owens picks his spot to sabotage a season.

When the Eagles least expect it, he'll verbally attack McNabb or try to make McNabb look bad by going after his passes halfheartedly. When the Eagles need him most, he will exact his revenge by dropping crucial passes.

And if the Eagles suspend him, he will spend his Sundays on pregame shows telling inside stories of just how poorly he has been treated. ESPN, Fox, NBC, CBS -- he'll line up the cameras in his living room.

If the Eagles lose without Owens, the fans who have turned on him now will all but riot for the Eagles to bring him back. Oh, does Terrible have the Eagles right where he wants them.

They would be better off cutting him than forcing him to play. I'd shop him first, just to see if I could get anything at all for him. After all, if another team were willing to give him a new deal, that team might get one big prove-the-Eagles-wrong season out of him.

But as Jerry Rice, a former 49ers teammate of Owens, said the other day, Owens is always so "defensive." That's because he's so insecure that he constantly must build in excuses to take the pressure off himself. He starts dropping hints that the quarterback is inadequate or that the coach or GM is out to get him.

This guy will always be more trouble than he's worth.

But my gut feeling? He has the Eagles at such a disadvantage that, at some point, they'll swallow whatever pride they have left and give him a new contract.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

That's been up for days now.  People had, until now, wisely chosen not to copy/paste it for this board.

[mikey418]

He just proved his clueless nickname.

He seriously has no clue about the Eagles organization or McNabb

[Rome]

The one comment I disagree with more than anything in that article is when he suggests that Eagles fans will riot if Owens is suspended and the Eagles begin losing.

First... the Eagles won't start losing, period, so his point is moot.

Second... should they, by some remote chance, start losing, Owens will be blamed for the losses because of his absence.  Eagles fans aren't stupid and they have no love for that jackass at this point.

In any case, Skippy's way off target as usual.  The Eagles offense will be fine without T.O.  It would be better with him but I can't see how it would mean the difference between a winning season and a losing one.  If they lost Donovan, then they'd be in deep trouble. 

Hell, they'd be in more trouble if they lost Westbrook than they would if Owens goes off the deep end once and for all.

[NGM]

I liked how they mentioned (Cold Pizza) that Skippy was on the least of 50 people who need a severe beating.  You could tell Skippy was offended but didn't want to show it. 

[Rome]

That's been up for days now.  People had, until now, wisely chosen not to copy/paste it for this board.

I thought it offered a unique prospective considering Terrell reported this morning.

Whatever.   

[Sgt PSN]

That's been up for days now.  People had, until now, wisely chosen not to copy/paste it for this board.

I thought it offered a unique prospective considering Terrell reported this morning.

It is a unique perspective considering that Skippy is about the only person in the world who thinks TO has the advantage here. 

[Rome]

That's been up for days now.  People had, until now, wisely chosen not to copy/paste it for this board.

I thought it offered a unique prospective considering Terrell reported this morning.

It is a unique perspective considering that Skippy is about the only person in the world who thinks TO has the advantage here. 

You forgot Rosenhaus, Sarge...

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Even Rosenhaus knows the score at this point.

[mussa]

i read until he said owens OWNS the eagles in all this vomit blah.  what a douche.  kill skip bayless....kill.  id like to tie his ass to a pole and throw spears at him.  i think espn drugs him everyday so he becomes so disillusional, then he write and or goes on tv.  if woody paige wasn't such a Hoyda,  he'd reach across the table and head-butt skippy it the nose. oh please happen...

[rjs246]

Bayless is the only Sports Journalist that I dislike more than Spads.

[JTrotter Fan]

I can't even stand to hear his voice on ESPN...i turn the channel right away.  He's terrible..and he looks like death.

[mikey418]

I can't even stand to hear his voice on ESPN...i turn the channel right away. He's terrible..and he looks like the missing queer eye for the queer guy fluffer.

Fixed.

[Feva]

You know... I tried to read the article but couldn't get through the first 2 paragraphs.

I can't get through any of this yahoo's articles anymore... to hell with him.