Just when the Antonio Brown situation in Oakland couldn’t get any stranger, Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens showed up to change the narrative. He weighed in on the drama on Saturday afternoon, as well as Brown’s release from the Oakland Raiders, talking to ESPN about the entire situation. As he joked, “somebody owe me an apology, some money, and a contract. See I wasn’t that bad.”
Owens has a rather unique history with the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL in general. Whether he was crying while talking about Tony Romo in an interview, catching 15 touchdown passes in 2007 to set a franchise record, or recovering from an accidental overdose that was labeled as a suicide attempt by police, Owens was a headline machine during his days in the league. He even conducted an interview while doing sit-ups in his driveway.
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Following his forced retirement from the NFL, it appeared that no wide receiver would be more divisive than Owens, but that is no longer the case. Brown has taken the crown from the Hall of Fame receiver, and he did so with gusto. Brown alienated two fanbases in less than a year, which is an incredible achievement. There could be a third in the mix, depending on whether or not a team signs Brown in the coming days.
Of course, finding a new team could prove to be a troublesome prospect for the veteran wide receiver. Brown has considerable talent for sure, but he is also developing a reputation for wrecking locker rooms, much like Owens did in his prime. He took shots at his former teammates for months after being traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers while talking about how amazing the Raiders are, and now he is repeating the trend on Saturday.
In the hours since his release, Brown has taken a shot at quarterback Derek Carr and his brothers, simply tweeting “Bumper Carrs,” which was likely in reference to Darren, David, and Derek. Additionally, Brown is trying to create a narrative that nobody embraced him in Oakland, saying “The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”
Terrell certainly had issues during his NFL career and was subsequently moved around between different teams such as the Eagles, Cowboys, Bills, Bengals, and 49ers. However, he didn’t quite reach the same levels that Brown has in such a short period of time.
