I guess he really will be having popcorn on the sideline...at least until someone else picks him up

Word on the street is Mr. T.O. is out of Big D. Translating this from Cowboy-speak into English: there is speculation that Terrell Owens has been formally released from the Dalla Cowboys organization. How do I feel about this? Well, I’m sure across the Cowboy Nation there are a lot of tears, a lot of jeers, and just as many “I don’t care”’s. Either way, this news is huge and is a big indicator of the direction that Mr. Jones is headed with his team.

Love him or hate him, Owens was a big part of the offense. Do your research: Owens literally produced almost half of the Cowboys reception production this past year – half! The Cowboys reception core isn’t a complete slouch, especially when you have a guy like Roy Williams waiting in the wings. However, the first question to come to mind is how to replace that kind of production. The reception core in Dallas has talent, but will now have to compensate for a guy, who as disruptive as he could be at times, was, and still is, a playmaker who could change a game with a reception or two. It’s almost a no-brainer when it comes to how different the locker room will be expected to be (then again, it is Dallas, which almost never changes). It will be even more interesting to see the changes that will be made under the watch of much-aligned offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

The final straw is T.O. is another victim of the mass-cleaning process that the Cowboys have executed this offseason. As I’ve said before, the Cowboys are no strangers to controversy, and in fact welcome it with the interesting brand of athletes they have welcomed over the years (most recently, Pacman Jones). Mix that in with the frustrations of not winning a playoff game not even once during his tenure, the untouchability that Jerry Jones placed on this franchise-caliber player began to fade away as fast as he fell asleep on that football during one of his famous touchdown celebrations. I have to argue that his value as a contributing player, despite his locker-room and off-the-field actions, is still high and of great value to whoever steps up (Minnesota, perhaps).

As I write this, I am still rather surprised that T.O.’s been released by America’s Team so suddenly. It is still setting in, but ultimately (as much as I don’t want to admit this) it may be a great idea to end this marriage now and look to the future for both entities. The Cowboys are looking to regain their place in not only the NFL, but in sports elite, and Owens is looking to have his own star that will not be overshadowed by that of the Dallas logo, whatever team will welcome him in. Perhaps his own star power is what set this whole thing off. It’s been mentioned that he has his own reality show in the works. If so, it’ll be interesting to see this said reality show this season (on one of the reality show stations, maybe VH-1 or MTV) and if they’ll include this amazing and unexpected chain of events.

It’s been quite a ride, Mr. Owens and I wish you luck. Thanks for the touchdown celebrations and ranking high in the Cowboy controversy hall-of-fame (quite a feat). It is arguable that numbers-wise he is Canton, Ohio  shrine material, but we will see how that all plays out. This situation is definitely a show that I’m tuned into and will be front and center waiting to see what’s next for the Cowboys this offseason, because it’s been one shocker after another so far. Will there be any more casualties left in Jerry Jones’ offseason mission of “destroy-and-rebuild”?