Players' Poll shows Terrell Owens most overrated in NFL- Is he?
A well known sports publication conducted its annual survey of NFL players, asking them many questions we don’t care about but one that did tickle our curiosity. Who is the most overrated player in NFL according to the players themselves?
Over two hundred players were asked that questions and there were many contenders for the top (dis?)honours. When the numbers were crunched, the answer became apparent. Drum roll please, and the winner is Bengal’s wide receiver, Terrell Owens. The result
was conclusive. It was a no contest, hands down title win for the Owens, though he probably didn’t want to win this one. The closest any other player came to being as ‘popular’ as Owens was Tony Romo. But Romo got only half as many (7%) votes as Owens did
(14%).
Behind Owens and Romo, quarterback Mark Sanchez and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth were tied for third place with 5% of the votes. Coming in fifth was Eli Manning with 4 percent of the votes. Even with a Super Bowl win to his credit, Manning is always
going to be living in the shadow of his older brother, Peyton.
But what about Owens? Is he really overrated? Is the legend of Terrell Owens larger than the player? I ask because Owens has a fairly dominating presence as a football player. He is only the tenth best rusher in the league right now but isn’t everyone? Being
a six time Pro Bowl selection must not be a big deal these days if Owens is overrated. It wasn’t too long ago when Owens held the record for the most yards in a single game.
His reputation as one of the best wide receivers is hard earned. In fact, he might actually be underrated. It’s not like teams were clamouring over each other to get a hold of T.O. He signed with the Bengals just before training camp opened. All he could
secure was a one year contract. “The contract I have right now, it's basically like I'm playing for free,” Owens said after the contract was signed.
There were no takers for T.O in the offseason. Still, his peers think he is overrated. For all he has done this season for his team, and over the years for all the teams he has played for, you certainly don’t hear as much about him as you’d expect. Over
15,000 yards since the start of his career and 145 touchdowns say that Owens is not overrated.
He is flamboyant though, maybe even obnoxious. Over the years, his on-field antics have earned him countless fines and penalties. The fans absolutely love him. He is currently the only player in the league to have scored a touchdown against every single
team in the league. What that means is that pretty much every team and most players have had the ‘pleasure’ of witnessing one of T.O’s signature celebrations.
Allow me to bring to your attention one of football's most memorable moments. The year was 2000 and T.O had just scored against the Dallas Cowboys for San Francisco. He ran back from the end zone to the midfield to celebrate and celebrate he did. He celebrated
all over the Cowboy’s star logo. When he scored again in that game, T.O ran back to the centre to do his thing again but Cowboy’s George Teague wouldn’t have it. T.O got tackled in the middle of the Star Logo while the home crowd booed the visiting wide receiver.
Teague was expelled from the game. My guess is he would have voted for T.O in this poll.
For his 100th touchdown celebration, he pulled out a towel from under his Jersey and folded it over his arms like a waiter would. He then ‘served’ the opposing team the football. He has been fined frequently for his celebrations.
That's T.O for you. That is not the kind of thing you do if you don’t want to be voted the most overrated player by your peers but T.O could hardly care less. He knows he is truly talented.
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