Box Score Beat

T.O. Much Coverage — 10.7.09

Posted on 08. Oct, 2009 by Graham Kates in NFL, T.O. Much Coverage

Terrell Owens is one of most publicized athletes in all of sports. He’s everywhere, from VH1 to Twitter to the blogosphere, and of course, on your TV on Sundays. Because of his brash play and equally brash mouth, Owens is never far from the spotlight. It is with this in mind that we present “T.O. Much Coverage,” a weekly column written by Box Score Beat’s newest addition Graham Kates. The column will look into the media coverage of Owens, curating and then analyzing what is being said and how.
On Sunday, Bills quarterback Trent Edwards managed a QB rating of just 51.0 against the Miami Dolphins, throwing three interceptions to one touchdown and getting sacked six times. Yet, across the country many newspapers still considered Terrell Owens the story.

The Associated Press led their game recap with this: “Terrell Owens made three catches Sunday — not great, but not bad considering his team seldom had the ball.”

Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post began his article about the game by observing: “If body language is the barometer, Terrell Owens isn’t happy.”

And Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald led with: “Terrell Owens, the dynamic receiver who has built a well-deserved reputation for big plays and bigger talk over 14 mercurial seasons, suddenly has gone as quiet behind the microphone as he has on the field.”

Conversely, back home in Buffalo Owens was merely an afterthought.

Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle never mentioned Owens in its analysis of the Bills poor first month (for which both the players and the coaches are to blame).

Likewise Mike Catalan of Rochester’s News 13 TV station also did not mention Owens, although he did get dramatic with his analysis:

“The Declaration of Independence says ‘All Men are Created Equal’. That is a wonderful document for the United States of America in the real world.  But the NFL isn’t part of the real world. All the men in an NFL franchise are not supposed to be equal. Two men on a team are more important than any other. That would be the head coach and the starting quarterback. That is why the Buffalo Bills are failing now and will continue to fail until there is a major change.”

For the Buffalo News’ Jerry Sullivan, T.O. is best used as an example of what’s wrong with Buffalo’s coaching staff.

“They’ve done the impossible. They’ve even turned Terrell Owens into a dull, pathetic milquetoast. T.O.’s sunglasses could be on fire and he’d tell you nothing was wrong. He’ll keep working hard and if you want to know his opinion on Edwards or Jauron or Brandon, just ask them.”

In Week 4, the tone of T.O.’s coverage can be divided into two categories: that from upstate New York and that from everywhere else.

Tags: Adam Beasley, Associated Press, Buffalo Bills, Buffalo News, Democrat and Chronicle, Jerry Sullivan, Miami Dolphins, Miami Herald, Mike Catalan, Palm Beach Post, Rochester News 13, T.O., Terrell Owens, Tom D'Angelo, Trent Edwards