Terryl on Terrell

Brothers Rice and Bass:

In the spirit of community, please allow me to offer a different opinion about Terrell Owens. From where I sit, I am in total support of the actions taken by the Philadelphia Eagles against Terrell Owens, I do not believe he has been victimized, and I think Senator Specter was out of line with his comments.

As you know, different professions have different policies and codes of ethics. For example, professors, nurses, and air traffic controllers all have different definitions of what is appropriate or inappropriate. In pro sports, a team is not allowed to discuss contracts or playing for them with an athlete that is under contract with another team. This is called “tampering”. Not long ago, Minnesota Timberwolves Executive, Kevin McHale, was suspended because it was proven that he tampered with another player while that player was under contract. Terrell Owens is currently under contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, therefore it is considered “tampering” when Cowboy’s owner, Jerry Jones, says we wants Terrell to play for his team.

Emotions aside, it’s important to remember that Terrell Owens has been suspended for three main reasons:
1. He violated the terms of the NFL labor agreement,
2. He violated the terms of his own contract, and
3. He committed several acts deemed “destructive and continuing threat,” most notably starting a fight with another player in his locker room.

Independent arbitrator, Richard Bloch, heard testimony from both sides and ruled to uphold the suspension against Mr. Owens stating, "no violation of the labor agreement inherent in the club's decision to pay Mr. Owens, but not to permit him to play or practice due to the nature of his conduct and its destructive and continuing threat to the team."

As a former football player, a former football coach, and an African-American man, I find Terrell’s behavior disturbing. Our bigoted society has countless examples of people being victimized by the system, but this is not one of them. On more than one occasion, I have not been  permitted to earn a salary because I was at the mercy of a malevolent oppressor and I consider it an insult to anyone that has ever been in this position to call Terrell Owens a victim.

Terrell Owens continues to get paid his full salary of several million dollars (minus the loss of pay for the 4 games he was suspended and possibly some of his signing bonus) so it is inaccurate to say that he has been denied an opportunity to earn a living. I am in disagreement with people like Jesse Jackson who are supporting Terrell Owens in this case and with Gene Upshaw who has vowed to fire the arbitrator based upon this ruling.

Sometimes people are right and sometime people are wrong. As a social justice advocate, I try to approach my life with integrity and consistency. I have a proven history of standing with others when I think they are right, but I also have a history of respectfully disagreeing with others when I think they are wrong. I respect Mr. Owens’s humanity, but do not respect his behavior.

On this issue, this Terryl thinks that Terrell was wrong!
--Terryl

PS. I love you both and am thankful we live in a country where we can respectfully disagree.

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Terryl J. Ross, Ph.D.
MOSAIC President
tjross@myuw.net
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"The greatest thing about planting a tree is knowing that some day someone else will be able to enjoy its shade."
--Barbara Walker