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MavKikiNYC · 10-19-2006, 02:27 AM

Parcells attempts to deflect attention from Owens.

October 19, 2006
To Cowboys, Owens Is Not That Difficult

By JOHN BRANCH
Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells has rarely been overshadowed by anyone in the N.F.L. But with receiver Terrell Owens on his team, Parcells has become a secondary attraction. Much of the attention around Owens, Parcells said, has been blown out of proportion.

“I think there has been a lot more made of it by people outside of down here,” Parcells said from Dallas during a conference call with reporters who cover the Giants.

“It really hasn’t been that difficult,” he said.

The Cowboys and the Giants, each 3-2, play in Dallas on Monday night, shining another bright light on the inner workings of the Cowboys.

Owens has long been the N.F.L.’s most controversial player, and Parcells its most interesting coach. Owens signed with the Cowboys in the off-season, after stints with the 49ers and the Eagles. His time in San Francisco and in Philadelphia ended with controversy and fractured locker rooms.

Watching the relationship between Owens and Parcells has been a popular voyeuristic sport in Dallas and around the league.

“It’s been interesting, from time to time,” Parcells said. “But things are starting to slow down a little bit.”

Viewed from afar, Owens is less a football player than a string of headlines. The news he has created has been as mundane as a hamstring pull and as jolting as a report of a suicide attempt. The hamstring pull kept him out of most of training camp, and he dismissed the suicide report in September as a regrettable and accidental result of combining painkillers and nutritional supplements.

Fans remain on an oddly fascinating watch, waiting for the Cowboys’ implosion, with every incident seen as another charge going off.

After Owens had a couple of shouting matches last week with Todd Haley, the passing-game coordinator, Owens said he would no longer talk to Haley. He used a similar tactic with the Eagles, and it hastened his falling-out with the team.

But in Dallas’s 34-6 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday, Owens caught three touchdown passes, embraced Haley and celebrated on the star at the middle of Texas Stadium. With the 49ers in 2000, Owens first posed on that star before being toppled by an angry Cowboys player, creating an uproar that looks almost quaint by the standards now applied to Owens.

Parcells said that shouting matches with his players occurred regularly, suggesting that a chronicle of those debates would fill volumes. But he said that the attention Owens draws was emblematic of the way an increasing number of players react to authority.

“Every once in a while,” Parcells said, “you run into a guy that, for some reason — I don’t know what they all are — they have certain opinions on things, and sometimes it’s an inflated opinion of their own ability.”

He added, “I do think there are guys — you see it in all sports now — they are pretty outspoken about everything.”

But Parcells did not apply that assessment directly to Owens. The Cowboys, despite the headline-making ability of Owens, are playing down the distraction angle. That is easier to do when the team has a winning record.

“The stuff that kind of circulates,” quarterback Drew Bledsoe said of Owens during a conference call, “and the attention that he draws, for the most part, stays outside of our locker room and our meeting rooms. It’s not near the distraction that you guys might think it is from afar.”

Parcells and Bledsoe said that Owens was learning to adapt to the offense. For his first 10 N.F.L. seasons, Owens played in a version of the West Coast offense, with its litany of short and quick passes. The Cowboys, like the Giants, use more traditional, but no less complicated, schemes.

Owens (Editorial comment: ONLY) has 22 receptions for 277 yards, numbers that slightly trail those of his teammate Terry Glenn. Owens has four touchdown catches, and Glenn has three.

“I wasn’t concerned about him when we first signed him,” Bledsoe said of Owens, “and I’m not any more concerned about him now. I think it’s going to be a very good thing for us going forward.”

10-19-2006, 02:27 AM	#96
MavKikiNYC Diamond Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 8,509	Stupid East Coast Media Bias Strikes Again Parcells attempts to deflect attention from Owens. October 19, 2006 To Cowboys, Owens Is Not That Difficult By JOHN BRANCH Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells has rarely been overshadowed by anyone in the N.F.L. But with receiver Terrell Owens on his team, Parcells has become a secondary attraction. Much of the attention around Owens, Parcells said, has been blown out of proportion. “I think there has been a lot more made of it by people outside of down here,” Parcells said from Dallas during a conference call with reporters who cover the Giants. “It really hasn’t been that difficult,” he said. The Cowboys and the Giants, each 3-2, play in Dallas on Monday night, shining another bright light on the inner workings of the Cowboys. Owens has long been the N.F.L.’s most controversial player, and Parcells its most interesting coach. Owens signed with the Cowboys in the off-season, after stints with the 49ers and the Eagles. His time in San Francisco and in Philadelphia ended with controversy and fractured locker rooms. Watching the relationship between Owens and Parcells has been a popular voyeuristic sport in Dallas and around the league. “It’s been interesting, from time to time,” Parcells said. “But things are starting to slow down a little bit.” Viewed from afar, Owens is less a football player than a string of headlines. The news he has created has been as mundane as a hamstring pull and as jolting as a report of a suicide attempt. The hamstring pull kept him out of most of training camp, and he dismissed the suicide report in September as a regrettable and accidental result of combining painkillers and nutritional supplements. Fans remain on an oddly fascinating watch, waiting for the Cowboys’ implosion, with every incident seen as another charge going off. After Owens had a couple of shouting matches last week with Todd Haley, the passing-game coordinator, Owens said he would no longer talk to Haley. He used a similar tactic with the Eagles, and it hastened his falling-out with the team. But in Dallas’s 34-6 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday, Owens caught three touchdown passes, embraced Haley and celebrated on the star at the middle of Texas Stadium. With the 49ers in 2000, Owens first posed on that star before being toppled by an angry Cowboys player, creating an uproar that looks almost quaint by the standards now applied to Owens. Parcells said that shouting matches with his players occurred regularly, suggesting that a chronicle of those debates would fill volumes. But he said that the attention Owens draws was emblematic of the way an increasing number of players react to authority. “Every once in a while,” Parcells said, “you run into a guy that, for some reason — I don’t know what they all are — they have certain opinions on things, and sometimes it’s an inflated opinion of their own ability.” He added, “I do think there are guys — you see it in all sports now — they are pretty outspoken about everything.” But Parcells did not apply that assessment directly to Owens. The Cowboys, despite the headline-making ability of Owens, are playing down the distraction angle. That is easier to do when the team has a winning record. “The stuff that kind of circulates,” quarterback Drew Bledsoe said of Owens during a conference call, “and the attention that he draws, for the most part, stays outside of our locker room and our meeting rooms. It’s not near the distraction that you guys might think it is from afar.” Parcells and Bledsoe said that Owens was learning to adapt to the offense. For his first 10 N.F.L. seasons, Owens played in a version of the West Coast offense, with its litany of short and quick passes. The Cowboys, like the Giants, use more traditional, but no less complicated, schemes. Owens (Editorial comment: ONLY) has 22 receptions for 277 yards, numbers that slightly trail those of his teammate Terry Glenn. Owens has four touchdown catches, and Glenn has three. “I wasn’t concerned about him when we first signed him,” Bledsoe said of Owens, “and I’m not any more concerned about him now. I think it’s going to be a very good thing for us going forward.” Last edited by MavKikiNYC; 10-19-2006 at 02:29 AM.