Terrell Owens: Is the Talent Worth the Trouble?

Professional sports teams and athletic superstars rarely have to clamor for the attention of the press; people demand the coverage and the media fulfills that need. People expect to see professional football games airing on CBS on Sunday afternoons in the fall, and they expect to find the scores and highlights of games in newspapers and internet sources.

Sadly, people also expect to be inundated with headlines and leading news stories on the downfall of one of their beloved-or not so beloved-sports heroes. Who can forget the O.J. Simpson trial or the media frenzy surrounding allegations that Kobe Bryant had raped a young fan?

On early Wednesday morning news broke that the contentious star of the Dallas Cowboys, Terrell Owens, had attempted suicide by overdosing on pain medication. Soon the story was splashed across every online news site and flashed across the screen of every 24-hour news network. Mere hours later the Dallas Cowboys scrambled to put together a press conference, where Owens denied the reports and claimed the story had “gone too far”. Press releases found on the Dallas Cowboy's website mirrored what was said in the press conference.

On Thursday the Dallas police department reclassified the incident report as an "accidental overdose", and the headlines all read the same: “T.O. Practices: Case Now ‘Accidental Overdose’ ”, “Owens Overdose Called Accident”, and “Owens Denies Suicide Allegations”.

But had the public relations damage already been done? Owens is one of the NFL’s most controversial players, with his antics and reputation from his time with the Philadelphia Eagles preceding his arrival in Dallas. He is no stranger to the media spotlight, and the majority of past coverage surrounding Owens has been negative.

In a separate weekly press conference on Wednesday, Dallas coach Bill Parcels refused to answer further questions when 33 out of 34 questions asked were about Owens and his “accident”. Instead of focusing on the entire team, Parcels and the Dallas Cowboys franchise yet again have to publicly deal with a negative story about Owens’ attitude and behavior.

A headline in the Washington Post read “Dallas Asks if Troubled Owens is Worth the Distraction”. A newspaper will always hone in on controversy, but in this case the question is valid: is Terrell Owens’ talent worth all the trouble? Will the negative press constantly surrounding Owens ultimately hurt the Cowboys franchise?

The Dallas Cowboys is a team that was noticed for its storied tradition and talent, but the focus of the media attention has shifted to a single player on the team. Could the negative attention on one player harm the reputation of the entire team, or is all press good press?