The last bit of lingering business between the Philadelphia Eagles and their former star receiver Terrell Owens was cleared up today when an arbitrator ordered Owens to pay the team $769,120 of the $1.725 million they were trying to recover from the $2.3 million signing bonus they gave him in 2004.
The case went to an arbitrator after the NFL players' union filed a grievance on T.O.'s behalf. That grievance, by the way, was filed in 2005. And you thought the government was slow.
T.O., after seven sometimes controversial years in San Francisco, was signed by the Eagles in 2004 for $49 million. He led them into contention that same year, but sat on the sidelines in the playoffs after breaking his leg late in the season. The team ultimately won the NFC title, setting the stage for Owens's heroic return in the Super Bowl against the Patriots. Owens played a good game but the Eagles would lose. A frustrated T.O. saw fit to lay most of the blame on QB Donovan McNabb, touching off a feud with the signal caller. This combined with Owens's antics while seeking a new contract - with help from new agent Drew Rosenhaus - would prove so disruptive to team unity that the Eagles ended up suspending him, then Keyshawning him for the rest of the season.
And that's why the Eagles were trying to get back his signing bonus. Since then, T.O. has moved on to the Cowboys, where his previous combativeness has been replaced by a new whimpering sensitivity, as evidenced by his crying fit on behalf of QB Tony Romo after the team's premature booting from the playoffs this year.
Unfortunately, there is no arbitrator who can force T.O. to pay us back for all the hours we as sports fans have wasted hearing about his bullshit over the years.
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Tags: philadelphia eagles, terrell owens
