http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3152144 T.O. irritated by Keyshawn's assertions about current team ESPN.com news services Updated: December 12, 2007, 3:29 PM ET Terrell Owens, unusually quiet this season, but never at a loss for words when the occasion required it, responded forcefully Wednesday to comments made last weekend by former Dallas Cowboys receiver Keyshawn Johnson, now an analyst on ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown." On the show, Johnson said he believed former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells -- now also an analyst with ESPN -- deserves credit for what the Dallas team looks like now, with a 12-1 record. In Dallas, Owens sharply criticized Johnson for defending Parcells, saying, "I challenge him to come down here and take my job. ESPN producers, let him go." Asked in the locker room why Johnson would take the position he did Sunday, Owens said: "I'm probably the reason he's in the booth now. He's going to be a hater and throw me under the bus because he has to defend Bill. He won a Super Bowl and all, but you'd have to check the roster to know he was even on the team. "We came out in the same year. He was a first-rounder and I was a third. Go compare our stats. He couldn't come down here now and be a third or fourth receiver on this team. Just compare our stats." Owens swung between addressing the Cowboys-as-built-by-Parcells theory and responding to Johnson's comments. "It's not a matter of me giving or not giving Bill credit," Owens said, according to The Dallas Morning News. "Everybody wants to make a big deal, that this is the team he built. It doesn't matter. ... My thing is give credit to Wade [Phillips]. The difference between Wade and Parcells is this: Parcells, he didn't use me as a playmaker; Wade, he got the staff, and that's what I'm being used as. "Plain and simple, without trying to be negative or anything. I'm being used as a playmaker, and as I said, the proof is in the pudding." And then back to delivering a verbal barrage at Johnson: "Those guys are probably talking about me, chopping it up, drinking coffee," Owens said. "They can have their little pity party and talk about me all day long. It doesn't bother me. There's a lot of people on the ESPN panel and across the country that has observed what has happened this year versus last year. And there's a lot of people that just don't want to give credit for what Wade has done and what wasn't done last year. That's it. I'm not trying to be negative."
I heard Keyshawn talking about this, and I understand where he is coming from. But you have to understand, Keyshawn was a Parcells type guy. But owens has a point, he is being used properly now. that team had the same offensive talent under parcells. I respect what parcells has done in the nfl, but he is the same guy who wanted drew bledsoe running that offense. he apparently wasn't the best coach for them.
I don't see anything wrong with saying that Parcells deserves credit for building the current Cowboys team. Sounds more like TO hates Keyshawn (who doesn't?), and was looking for a reason to blast him.
he did have 6 catches, 70 yards that game. he also scored a touchdown in NFC championship. keyshawn had some good years. T.O. is just crazy.
The ONE thing I like about the Cowboys having such a good season this year is the fact that this is basically the same team that Parcells coached to an early playoff exit a year ago. The best he could do with this team was 10-6 with no playoff wins. That plus the fact that his #1 assistant has now won 3 Superbowls (and probably another one this year, along with a 19-0 record) WITHOUT him leads me to believe that Parcells is one of the most over-rated coaches in NFL history.
I don't think what Keyshawn said deserved the animosity that TO displayed, but it was still funny to see Key called out like that. Key pretty much is BP's finger puppet on ESPN. And I do think BP was huge in building up the Cowboy's roster. Some people forget how bare the cupboard was when he took on the job. But he had clearly lost the fire he once had and it was time for him to go.
Well, he was, even up to last year, a very good evaluator of 'football talent'. Regardless of his prowess in the X's-and-O's department, or his relying too heavily on a non-aggressive, reactive defense, it is undeniable that he is primarily responsible for filling the current Cowboys roster. That said, I do not believe for one second that if Parcells were still the coach of this team that they would be 12-1 right now. Not saying BP is a BAD coach, just that it was time to loosen the reins and allow these guys to play more aggressively instead of always playing so afraid of making mistakes. This team does not play mistake-free, by any means, but it certainly plays with a very confident aggressiveness, both defensively and offensively, so that even if mistakes DO happen, they fully believe that they will still be able to overcome them. That was NOT a hallmark of BP-coached teams. Personally, I would not hesitate to hire BP as some kind of personnel consultant, but I really would keep him out of the coaching room. Let him do what he's best at.
Agree completely - I have always felt that Parcells was nothing more than a big blowhard whose nuts were constantly sucked on by the media.
wow. listening to TO talk gives me a headache...and now i just learned that reading his quotes does too
Nah, it will be even better to see them make it to the Super Bowl, hear them and their obnoxious fans go on and on about how great they are, and then get destroyed by the Patriots!
Not all their fans are obnoxious. It doesn't help when the haters start talking smak which makes the obnoxios fans come out in droves. That said TO is an a-hole but as long as he catches the ball when it's thrown his way I don't care. Parcells may have built the car but Phillips tuned it up and has it running better than ever.
I'm almost mentioned you by name but I thought you knew that I considered you to not be an obnoxious fan since you hate the "America's Team" bs. So, easy with the rolleyes bigguy - I know you are one of the few sane and non-obnoxious Cowboys fans out there (can't say the same for that ryan17wagner or whatever his name is kid).
I dont think it is that cut and dry though. Tony Romo was an unknown before last season. I dont blame Parcell for not trusting Romo to air it out or open up the offense. You rarely see highly touted young quarterbacks succeed, so you cant expect Parcell to trust Romo.
