
The hidden storyThe most fascinating part of the T.O. saga: his T-shirtPosted: Thursday August 18, 2005 12:29PM; Updated: Thursday August 18, 2005 12:29PM
Terrell Owens has reported to Eagles camp and appears to be behaving, as he promised he would on his personal Web site. So maybe now the DefCon Five coverage, the media stakeouts, and the live helicopter shots of T.O. shooting baskets in his driveway will end. The creative people at the Daily Show will again be able to watch SportsCenter without feeling that their fake-news concept is being ripped off. Although the video of T.O. doing sit-ups in his driveway should air at least a half-dozen more times, because its nuances and ramifications still need to be properly explored. And while the episode of Owens' dismissal from camp appears to have been analyzed beyond the point of exhaustion -- where does Owens rank among the great T.O.'s of history? Behind Tom Osborne? Ahead of Tony Orlando? -- there is one important question that remains unanswered, the only one that means anything to me at this point: Where can I get one of those T-shirts with the photo of Owens and his mother on it? If you haven't seen the shirt, it's pretty solid. Owens wore it during one of the several live interviews he did on ESPN last week, sitting side by side with agent Drew Rosenhaus. T.O. used the T-shirt as a visual aid. Explaining his dust-up with Eagles coach Andy Reid, T.O. gestured to the to the photo of he and his mother and explained that this woman was his parent, not Reid, therefore Reid didn't have the right to treat him like a child and tell him to shut up. At first I thought the T-shirt looked a little silly on T.O., simply because the craftsmanship seemed beneath him. This is the man who, earlier this week, was visited by the managing director for Henk, a maker of suitcases, who had flown in from France to sell Owens two suitcases priced at $20,000 apiece. The shirt, on the other hand, looked like Owens picked it up for $11 in Ocean City. Much better if the image of he and his mother had been hand-woven into a lightweight sweater of fine Italian wool. This just didn't look up to his standards. But then I had a second thought: how good would that T-shirt look on me? Or forget me, how about anyone else? If that T-shirt were on the market, it would sell more than the "Free James Brown" or "Free Winona Ryder" T-shirts combined. Ten times more. Owens supporters would buy it in solidarity. Owens haters would buy it in mockery. Hipsters who don't know a thing about football would buy the T-shirt for the irony; of course these people would have to explain to their hipster friends who Terrell Owens is and why he was motivated to make this T-shirt and wear it on television, but that would be part of the fun of it. T.O. and Rosenhaus claim they want guaranteed millions? This is guaranteed millions. And it's not like Terrell doesn't know his way around the world of e-tailing. On his Web site he sells copies of his book Catch This, autographed footballs and mini-helmets. He even sells sets of stadium cups with a snazzy T.O. logo, available in green-on-white or white-on-green. Get some logo-emblazoned place settings and towels up there, he can start taking wedding registrations. But no family T-shirt. What a waste. This is a golden opportunity. You know, Terrell Owens knows how to play football, but sometimes he acts like he doesn't think straight.
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