http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2002/1017/1447321.html SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Terrell Owens, fined $5,000 by the NFL on Wednesday for an untucked shirttail but not cited for his touchdown/autograph celebration Monday in Seattle, is implying that race is a factor in how his actions are perceived. "You have a white guy as an announcer and sportscaster," Owens was quoted as saying in the San Francisco Examiner. "Me, I'm black. I do it and I've already done some stuff in the past. "We're (African-Americans) more expressive than the white guys," Owen said. "You look at the skilled players. We're the ones that get into the end zone. We get in the end zone more than they do." Owens told the paper that the public misinterprets the actions of African-American athletes. He told the Examiner he's "shocked" at the nationwide reaction and contends that what he did was "harmless." Owens wasn't punished for pulling a pen from his sock to sign the football after a touchdown catch in the San Francisco 49ers' 28-21 victory over Seattle on Monday night. Instead, the league sent him a letter containing a much more common, minor fine for equipment violations. Owens called it "nonsense ... a very nit-picky thing." "It states on the notice that I specifically wore my shirt out during the game," Owens said. "I constantly tucked it in throughout the course of the game, and people were tugging on me, and it just came out." After beating cornerback Shawn Springs for the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter, Owens produced a pen, signed the football and presented it to his financial adviser in the front row. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Owens won't be fined or suspended for the move, but similar displays will be punished. Owens told the Examiner that some fans and media members are overreacting. "I see my work like Picasso," Owens said. "He signed off on his work. I signed off on my work. I work hard during the week. I'm just trying to have fun. "You only have one day to display your talents." Information from the Associated Press is included in this report
i posted my thoughts in the "cockiest NFL player thread" but i can do it here too: I've been a 49er fan since the mid-80s. They have been my 2nd favorite team. However Owens is testing my loyalty with his inane actions and comments over the years. Can you imagine the media uproar if a white athlete were to say "well, we're just calmer and have a more casual demeanor than <b>THEM</b>. they're loud and showy on the field" my god we'd be going crazy and there would be a thread about racism in sports on here by now... Owens is a jacka$$ and i don't know if i can root for my team anymore with him leading the way.
Yeah, Owens sounds like a lunatic. He'd like to think he's just being persecuted because of his race, but other black receivers don't seem to have the same problem. That said, I do think that the NFL should relax on celebrations.
Someone needs to tell that jabroni that if the big bad NFL is really out to get him with their racist, oppressive ways then they would have fined his hot dog ass for pulling that pen out and signing that damn football. Hearing crap like this really pisses me off.
hey..remember when your favorite team (mine too at the time) beat the niners on Christmas Day in SF 10-7....my favorite player, Cris Dishman, intercepted a Young pass and ran it back for a touchdown, throwing it into a section of the stands where there was a group of Oiler fans....that was 1993. good times!
Sure TO...the only reason white guys don't celebrate like idiots all the time is because they're such pathetic athletes that they never get into the endzone. I'm sure many African Americans appreciated Owens speaking for their entire race by saying "<b>We</b> are more expressive than white guys", which to me translates to, "we act like jackasses on the playing field more than white guys." I'm sure class acts like Emmit Smith and Barry Sanders would agree with that.
I gotta be honest, I think he got fined for the celebration here. And I gotta be honest again - the celebration was hilarious. The NFL needs to lighten up in regards to celebrations. However the whole black vs white spiel he goes on - that's just insane.
<b>"You have a white guy as an announcer and sportscaster," Owens was quoted as saying in the San Francisco Examiner. "Me, I'm black. I do it and I've already done some stuff in the past. "We're (African-Americans) more expressive than the white guys," Owen said. "You look at the skilled players. We're the ones that get into the end zone. We get in the end zone more than they do." Owens told the paper that the public misinterprets the actions of African-American athletes. He told the Examiner he's "shocked" at the nationwide reaction and contends that what he did was "harmless." </b> Let me help you Mr. Owens, you're ignorant. I'm black, and I think you're a clown and an idiot, and I don't have much respect for Owens except for his receivers skills. Jerry Rice is black, and he told Owens he is acting like a clown and needs to start showing more respect. And as much as I think he's a hypocrite most of the time Jim Brown is black and he thinks the guy is an insult to the game of football. So there are black people all-around who thinks Terrell Owens is a jack@ss and a classless clown. I would say act like you've been there before, but since he refused to listen a receiver who, during his career, was better then Owens is and who has actually been there, I don't think there's much hope getting into that thick skull of his.
I hate to break it to you Terrell but the guy in charge of levying fines in the NFL, Uhh Terrell he is African-American. CK
ahh... memories! i didn't feel one bit conflicted in that game b/c my oiler loyalty is a million times higher than my 49er loyalty.
Yeah, I thought this whole Sharpie thing was blown way out of proportion...but Owens is officially a racist idiot for his comments here.
Hey Terrell, Mike Alstott has scored more touchdowns this year than you have, and he hasn't felt the need to act like a jackass when he did it.
Yep, but also because he is white, he shouldn't be scoring more tds. TO's world just must be crashing down around him.
I can't think of a white player outside of Mark Gastineau who ever had a dance or something like that. I thought the sharpie thing was kind of funny but TO just needs to shut up and play football. Plus has TO ever heard of Bill Romanowski? He's not black and he's always been at the top of the NFL's fine list.
What is it with some of these guys coming in and having major attitudes? Moss and Keyshawn are really bad. Terrell Owens in his mind was better than Jerry Rice ever was. I don't see how Owens plays the race card and says Black guys celebrate more. Im sure half the teams in the NFL don't even have a White WR on their roster, and guys like Jerry Porter and Peerless Price aren't getting all cocky just because they are rising stars.
Let's give him credit for being honest and speaking his mind...I know you aren't suppose to always say what you think, but we need more people in Sports with spunk...Charles barkley is very good at this... Don't get me wrong here folks, I don't condone it, I wouldn't emulate it, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it...but I think people need to start saying what's really on there minds in this world...I want the truth from folk...I think you deserve the truth. I know I deserve the truth and I'd like to know where you exactly stand on things...This shocking ideology might carry over to the real world. Imagine that, no!?! It's high-time we as folk of U.S.A. rip off the wool covering our eyes, shred it up and put it in the trash can...We often live in a make-believe world where we talk about each other behind backs, and tell customers that "we are here for you" and bunk like that...Sports can be the precedent for this...why? because Sports is a real make believe world where we can get emotional and pissed off and not be held accountable for ideology......Will TO be held accountable for ideology...If he performs, not really... So let's transgress this momentum to get people to look at what they really think,...allow themselves to understand why they think that way and grow from it in some way. A novel idea, no?
