Why the Cowboys Cut Terrell Owens

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

The NFL equivalent to this question involves the 2008 Dallas Cowboys. Did the team implode because Terrell Owens is a headcase, or did Owens blow up because the team was imploding? Many NFL fans, myself included, have cited "chemistry" — specifically, a lack thereof — in the team's dramatic decline last season. After starting 3-0, and rebounding to 8-4 after Tony Romo returned from injury, Dallas dropped three of its last four to finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs. It was a hugely disappointing season for a team that possessed a ton of talent on paper, and was widely expected to contend for the Super Bowl.

It would be, at best, a gross exaggeration to suggest that T.O. was solely to blame for the Cowboys' underachievements in 2008. Injuries played an enormous role, with Tony Romo, Marion Barber, Terence Newman, and even punter Mat McBriar all missing significant time. So did Felix Jones, Kyle Kosier, and defensive back Roy Williams. Dallas also played a tough NFC East schedule, and coordinators Jason Garrett and Brian Stewart were both panned for their lack of creativity.

So clearly, more than just a lack of chemistry put the Cowboys in trouble last season. But even if chemistry was a primary factor in the Dallas downfall, was Owens the only problem? What about the anonymous offensive player who went to Ed Werder about a meeting that was supposed to stay in-house? What about Pacman Jones, whose comings and going were in the news more often than Owens was? What about a coaching staff that exerted no visible control over its players? And what about owner Jerry Jones, who assembled this motley crew, time and again rolling the dice on all-talent, no-character time bombs waiting to go off in his locker room? Jones even called out one of his own players, bruising RB Marion Barber, for not playing through an injury. That certainly doesn't foster chemistry.

Am I here to make excuses for Owens? No. Emphatically, no. I think people like Stephen A. Smith, who spoke with real venom last night about Jones "lying through his teeth" regarding T.O.'s future, are loathsome and pathetic. Smith and his colleagues are supposed to be journalists, not celebrity-worshippers. I'm not interested in blindly bashing Owens, but I'm certainly not here to worship him. Several years ago, I called Owens "the most profoundly self-centered player in the history of the National Football League." He was "a supremely talented football player, but one whom the sport might be better off without."

But will the Cowboys be better off without him? I'm starting to wonder if Terrell Owens isn't a little bit like the player equivalent of Marty Schottenheimer. The postseason failures of Martyball are legendary, but the man was a phenomenal regular-season coach, with particular success in re-building bad teams. Owens is still a very good player on the field, and there is no doubt that he could help a team with holes in its receiving corps. But why would a contender want to play with fire?

The fact is that there is probably nowhere Owens would be happy for an extended period of time. He hates losing. I am totally convinced that Owens hates losing. So you can't put him on a bad team and expect that things will go well. He would explode before the bye week. But he also hates not getting the ball and not getting the credit. In the 31-year history of the 16-game schedule, no team has gone 19-0. And all it takes is one loss for Owens to start publicly complaining that he's not being used right. This guy divides locker rooms, hard. In both Philadelphia and Dallas, most defensive players had Owens' back, seeing a truly talented player capable of helping the team. Many — but certainly not all — of the offensive players and coaches, the ones who had to sit in meetings with this guy, couldn't wait for him to leave town.

Why did the Cowboys cut Terrell Owens? Partially because they don't need him; they have Roy Williams and Jason Witten and a strong running game. Partially because he's a convenient scapegoat for Owner Jones, who is always on the lookout to deflect blame from himself. And partly because Owens tears locker rooms apart. He is a distraction, especially when things are going badly and a team most needs to pull together. At the end of last season, Owens had his quarterback and coaches playing scared, forcing him the ball. The Cowboys will miss him, as surely as the Giants missed Plaxico Burress late last season, but they could still be better off without him.

Owens is trouble, but talent is hard to resist. He'll get picked up, probably for a very, very large salary. Things will go well for a short time, and then I'll write this article again.