CBSSports.com has a report this morning that Terrell Owens asserts that he has been blackballed from the NFL just as Colin Kaepernick has. T.O. says that the league knows he can still play – at age 44 – but he cannot get a job because he is blacklisted. Owens’ last NFL game was in 2010. You can read all about it here.
I do believe that Owens and Kaepernick are “out of a job” in the NFL for the same reason but the reason is not blackballing; I believe the reason is a cost/benefit calculation. Here are the benefits:
- Colin Kaepernick is a capable QB; he is not a star QB or even a “Top Ten” QB, but he is capable, and he would win the starting job on more than a few NFL teams if he were on the roster.
- Terrell Owens ranks 8th on the list of NFL pass-catchers in passes caught; he says he can still run a 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds; he may not be a lead receiver at his age, but he could certainly make a team on physical ability alone.
And it is those last words about Terrell Owens – “on physical ability alone” – that changes the equation because neither Kaepernick nor Owens would be on a team as an anonymous presence save for physical football acts every Sunday. Kaepernick would bring with him the whole “anthem-protest thing”; Owens has been known to be a “less-than-perfect teammate” in previous stops along the way. Thus, you have the cost/benefit calculation that seems to say that while both could make the team, neither one would make the team sufficiently better to warrant taking on the “other stuff” that comes along with Kaepernick or Owens. Hi ho…
Given the NFL standings this morning, there is a possibility that the LA Chargers and the Buffalo Bills could wind up with the same record and with only one wild card slot available to the team holding the tie-breaker. That team would be the Chargers based on the Chargers beating the Bills 54-24 on Nov.19. That was the game when Sean McDermott decided to start Nathan Peterman at QB only to watch Peterman throw 5 INTs in the first half of the game. The Chargers took advantage of that largesse and led the game 37-7 at halftime. And that game might turn out to be the reason the Chargers make the playoffs and the Bills do not. It is not likely, but it is possible…
A couple of quick remarks about six of NFL games over the weekend:
- The Jags lost to the Niners and gave up 44 points to the Niners. The Jags had the NFL’s top-rated defense at kickoff; how did they give up 44 points to the Niners?
- The Lions lost to the Bengals eliminating themselves from playoff contention. Granted, the Lions needed a lot of things to fall just right for them to get in, but in addition to having all those things fall right, the Lions needed to win out. And so, on Sunday, the Lions lost to a Bengals team that had lost its last two games by a combined score of 67-14. How Lionesque..
- The Seahawks remain alive in the playoff race after eliminating the Cowboys over the weekend. The Cowboys’ offense was a complete no-show in the game despite the return of Ezekiel Elliott.
- The Giants were shut out in Arizona. The Giants leading rusher in the game carried the ball 10 times for 18 yards.
- The Rams beat the Titans and Todd Gurley had another great game. He for 118 yards on 22 carries and he caught 10 passes for 158 yards and 2 TDs. Not a bad day at the office…
- The Browns lost to the Bears in a “snow-game”. The Browns held the Bears’ rushing attack in check; Jordan Howard gained only 44 yards on 22 carries but DeShone Kizer threw 2 INTs and the Browns turned the ball over twice in the red zone. How Brownsesque …
I was checking out some of the NBA action on Christmas Day waiting to see the NFL games in the late afternoon time slot. As I turned over to the NFL game, the juxtaposition of basketball and football put a bizarre thought in my head. Imagine for a moment that the rumors about Vince McMahon breathing a second existence into the XFL are correct. Obviously, if the XFL is going to compete with the NFL and college football in a meaningful way, it will have to distinguish itself from either of those rivals and it will need lots of publicity and hype in the early stages of its existence. So here is the bizarre idea:
- How about Vince McMahon as the “head guy” with LaVar Ball as his “second-in-command” where Ball has the responsibility for doing sufficiently outrageous things to keep the XFL in the sports section of the papers around the country on a twice-a-week basis? Oh, and the players could wear Big Baller Brand shoes in the games as a “cross-promotion”.
A McMahon/Ball tandem might just put P.T. Barnum to shame…
Finally, here is a snarky football comment from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times last weekend:
“This just in: Raiders wideout Amari Cooper chosen to drop the ball in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………