Cowboys Managers Fine Terrell Owens $9,500 For No-Show Antics

By Mark Hoerrner

Sports pundits across the country are blogging away about Friday’s reported disciplinary action by the Dallas Cowboy’s team management. After receiver Terrell Owens—who has missed 19 of 31 practices and all three pre-season games—allegedly missed an offensive line meeting and a rehabilitation session, the Dallas Morning News reported that the team fined Owens $9,500.

The amount may seem small for a man who was signed to a three year, $25 million contract, $10 million of which will be paid out this year, but it’s a definite sign that all is not well in Cowboyland.

"That's our club business," said team owner Jerry Jones in an interview at halftime of Saturday's 17-7 win over San Francisco. "That’s going to be accounted for."

Whatever Jones was trying to say is par for the course with Jones’ constant defense of his investment in Owens. He’s gone so far as to liken Owens pain to his own dental issues and said he’s confident that Owens is going to be a productive member of the team.

"There's no question our best thing to do is get him well," Jones told Dallas’ Channel 11 after the game. "I want him out there and would've wanted him to make every practice.
"I understand that, and everyone else does, too. He wants to be out there, too. ... I know this: When he's healthy, he's going to help us win these ballgames."

According to the Dallas Morning News, Owens’ injury could be creating a rift between Parcells and the injured receiver. Parcells likes his players to practice repetition, the News reported, adding that most players who don’t make practice on Wednesday and Thursday, the team’s heaviest practice days, won’t see time on the field on gameday.

Parcells has been consistently elusive about his feelings on Owens’ performance, but that hasn’t stopped opinionmakers around the globe from speculating on when and where Parcells is going to give Owens his final ultimatum: shape up and play or get off the team.

So far, the Cowboys are doing well without Owens, having put down three opponents during the three games of the pre-season. Owens or no Owens, the team is moving forward, much like the Philadelphia Eagles did when they cut Owens loose this past season. Because of his antics on and off the field, the franchise suspended him for the last nine games of the season and then released him in March. Dallas signed him almost immediately and the courtship between player and management began anew with Jones acting like a teenager in love for the first time.

Owens, however, may have heard the wake-up call that this fine contains. If so, it’s possible Dallas will see Owens perform like he has in the past, running at full speed into the end zone. Or Dallas will see Owens perform like he has in the past, warbling loudly from the sidelines and from behind press microphones to distract everyone from the fact that he’s one of the highest-paid players not actually playing anything.