Terrell Owens Misses Flight but Keeps Number
The Terrell Owens (T.O) show arriving in Cincinnati was put on hold for a little while as Owens missed his overnight flight to the Bengals training camp. As a result, he missed the first practice.
Owens was to fly in from California overnight so that he’d arrive in the morning and sign his one-year contract while the team worked out. It was also scheduled for Owens to take his physical and hold an introductory news conference.
The news conference has been pushed until after the evening workout. Coach Marvin Lewis claimed he was unsure if Owens would be able to work out with the team that day.
On Wednesday night, Owens had posted on his Twitter account that he was planning to see a movie that night, but it was unknown as to why he missed his flight. He did post that his news conference had to be rescheduled.
He played off the Lebron James one-hour special on ESPN saying: "My Press conf about my "Decision" 2 take my talents 2 Cincy will b held 2nite after 7pm practice!!"
The good news for Owens though is that once he gets to Cincinnati, he will retain his number, 81. Owens has built a legacy with the number, but with wide receiver (WR) Antonio Bryant taking the number when he signed in March, it was unknown whether Owens would have to take a new number or if he would offer Bryant financial compensation for taking the number.
Bryant said he and Owens had already spoken and the two worked out their own agreement, which resulted in Owens taking the number. Bryant was understanding and gave Owens the number for a small, noble price.
"I'm a realist," Bryant said. "I said, 'Hey, man, I'm not going to make no big spectacle about it. You've got a bigger legacy and a number than I do. I've been on several teams like you, but I've changed my number several times. You've had the same number. I don't need your money. At the end of the day, all I want you to do is take care of one of my little league programs in Miami. Send them a small donation and we'll go from there.' "
With Owens not at the Bengals first practice, Bryant was the focus in the offence. The receiver tore the cartilage in his left knee last year at training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his injury plagued season, he was held to 39 catches for 600 yards and four touchdowns. The Bengals signed him in the offseason to a four-year deal worth $28 million, after Chad Ochocinco unsuccessfully lobbied for the team to bring in T.O.
As fate would have it, both Bryant and T.O are on the Bengals, now joining forces with Ochocinco and are hoping to form a dangerous receiving corps.
One of the reasons why Owens was brought in is because Bryant’s knee had still been bothering him and he had to lay off workouts in minicamp. He took part in the Bengals’ first practice running cautiously, at half speed. He will be sitting out some more practices in order to strengthen his knee.
"The only thing I'm struggling with right now is just being comfortable and mentally just putting [the left foot] down and doing what I want to do without thinking, 'Oh, I might feel pain,' " Bryant said. "That's my biggest hurdle right now."
While Coach Marvin Lewis denied that the Bengals’ decision to sign Owens had anything to do with Bryant’s knee, Bryant has his doubts.
Maybe so," he said. "But it's a business and there's a purpose behind being here and that's winning championships, and right now we look pretty good on paper, I'll tell you that much. I'm a team player. It's all about having the best team. If I owned the team, I would definitely go after the best players if possible, especially with the situation they acquired him. I definitely would have went after the guy."
The receiving corps may also help out Cedric Benson in the running game if he isn’t suspended. Ochocinco said so himself after the signing that Benson should be ecstatic because with all the attention the receivers will attract from defences, the door’s open for Benson to have a spectacular season.
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