As the rumors swirl about the Seahawks looking into acquiring a proven “#1” WR to supplement the questionable health of WR’s Deion Branch and T.J. Houshmandzadeh; a name that seems to be one of the more popular is that of the aging veteran receiver Terrell Owens. While adding another proven receiver would not be the worst idea Seahawks management has ever had, adding T.O. could be either a regression in smarts or an attention-grabbing upgrade in what has already been a pretty good offseason overhaul of the Seahawks roster. To Continue...
The Case for T.O. (By: Nathan Parsons)
Many of you are anti-Terrell Owens because of his history with other teams and his publicity stunts. But I have a reason why the Seahawks need to pick up T.O.: We have no choice! The Seahawks WR depth chart is as follows: (1)T.J. Houshmandzadeh (2) Deion Branch (3) Deon Butler/Golden Tate.
For starters, look at Branch. First and foremost, he is most likely going to underperform or get hurt considering he's had 3 knee surgeries in 2 years. So that leaves us with Housh and two developing, young receivers. Fail. Don’t tell me we’re going to be successful with these 4 guys (or 3 with Branch probably slipping on a banana peel and cracking his knee). We don't have a big, strong receiver that strikes fear into the hearts of defenses.
Insert Terrell Owens.
At 6-3, 224 pounds, he is a physical specimen and even more impressive are his career numbers. 15 seasons, 1,006 receptions, 14,951 yards, 144 TDs. Last season wasn't exactly stellar by his standards, 829 yards, 55 receptions, and 5 TDs, but you have to cut him some slack considering that his QB was Ryan Fitzpatrick and he was in cold, windy Buffalo, NY. Keep in mind though, two seasons ago he had 69 receptions, 1052 yards, and 10 TDs, which suggests he is still capable of putting up numbers with the right supporting cast.
The main knock on him is he USED to be your prime example of a drama queen, as evident while he was with San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Dallas. But did you hear of any problems in Buffalo? No. How about with the quarterback? No.
I think being in Buffalo humbled Terrell and he finally realized that he wasn't the best player in the world. Even if he still had problems, Pete Carroll would still need to pick him up because of our futile wide-receiver corps. Owens would bring pressure off of Houshmandzadeh and allow the two young guys, Butler and Tate, to develop at their own pace.
The Case Against T.O. (By: David Berry)
First knock on Owens would be his age. Why would you want to bring in a receiver who is going to be 37 coming into the 2010 season? We all know Brett Favre has had success into his 40’s, but the difference between Favre and Owens is that Owens has to run routes and catch passes.
Hyperbaric Chamber or not, I refuse to believe a rebuilding team like the Hawks would be better off with an aging star who still thinks of himself as a superstar over bringing in a younger proven receiver, say Vincent Jackson, or developing one of the young receivers already on the roster.
Second would be how drastically Terrell Owens’ statistics have dropped over the last three years. In 2007 he had 81 receptions for 1355 yards and 15 TD’s. In 2008 he saw his stats drop to 69 receptions 1052 yards and 10 TD’s, as mentioned earlier. Last season, while playing for the Buffalo Bills he saw his stats drop even further 55 receptions 829 yards and only 5 TD’s. So if we follow this trend, the Seahawks should look for around 40 receptions, 600 yds, and between 0-2 TD’s; great production out of your “#1” receiver.
The third major reason why Terrell Owens would be a bad fit for the Seahawks would be his attitude. If the Hawks are going to bring in a veteran player he needs to be someone who will be more concerned about the name on the front of the jersey rather than the name on the back. As was evidenced last year the Seahawks’ receivers are an impressionable group. With the very outspoken T.J. Houshmandzadeh at the #1 spot, we got to listen to the amazing radio that was T.J., Deion Branch, and Nate Burleson pop off and blast the coaching staff. I fail to believe it would be any better with Mr. Owens at the helm.
Terrell Owens has got himself run out of not one, not two, but three different cities with his antics, most notably: Dallas, TX. C’mmmon now Dallas, really??? This is the same franchise that put up with Michael Irvin and Nate Newton and all their legal troubles. You have to TRY to get run out of Dallas. I don’t think TO had time to get under Buffalo’s skin enough to get excommunicated from there, but you also notice they aren’t rushing to invite him back to play with them either.
Add all these factors up and that’s three strikes. Sorry, Terrell, but you’ve struck yourself out in the mind of this Seahawks fan.
Reach Nathan Parsons, David Berry, or Jacob Kehle at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
