Cowboys' Terrell Owens Productive, Focused
Receiver A Fantasy Points Machine Free From Distractions
Jul 27, 2008
And fantasy football owners, latch on. Owens is a sure bet No. 1 receiver, age be damned. He’s durable, he gets the ball, and he is distraction free. He’ll pile up fantasy points.
“I'm content where I am,” Owens told the Associated Press on July 26 in Oxnard, Calif., after the Cowboys had their first 2008 training camp practice in pads. “I know I'm going to be a Cowboy for life.”
Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones isn’t afraid of reclamation projects, and Owens has paid huge dividends, in part because he’s certain Jones wants to win as urgently as he does. And the Cowboys' sights are squarely set on the Super Bowl.
No Distractions
There’s no Bill Parcells around to squabble with, no overdose/suicide dramas, no conflicts with teammates or coaches. Hell, he’s professed his love for his quarterback, emerging superstar Tony Romo. And he has brushed off his missed-drug-test dispute with the league.
“I'm just playing free, stress-free, and just going out here and just trying to get my team better from every aspect of the game,” Owens said.
So his mind is just on football, where Owens is as productive as ever.
As Productive As Ever
He has scored 28 touchdowns in his two seasons in Dallas. He knows Romo will get the football to him.
Owens has caught passes for more than 1,000 yards in seven of the past eight seasons. He gained 1,355 on 81 catches in 2007.
His 15 touchdowns were third most among NFL receivers in 2007. He scored 13 in 2006. His receiving yardage was in the top five, even though he only ranked 20th in number of passes caught. Touchdowns and yardage translate into fantasy football wins.
There’s no reason to expect a decline in Owens’ production, and no sense of an impending blow-up/meltdown.
Focus On Winning
His skirmish with the league over a missed mandatory drug test probably was the misunderstanding he claimed it to be. Owens takes legendary care of his sculpted body, and he’s tough. He also seems to respond far better to head coach Wade Phillips’ pro-players approach than he did to Parcells’ needling.
“He's at a point of his career where he knows he's going to be an All-Star, maybe even Hall of Fame-type player. ... I don't think he's worried about that as much as he is the team winning,” Phillips told the AP. “(Players) get to a certain point to where they want the team to win and that's really the most important thing for them and that makes the best teammate. I think he seems to be at that point.”
