Eagles Suspend Terrell Owens Remainder of Season

The other shoe has dropped in the Terrell Owens saga, with the Eagles announcing they are suspending the superstar wide receiver the entire second half of the season, simply eating the remaining $3.25 million of his salary.

Eagles say Owens won’t return this season (AP)

Terrell Owens can take his touchdowns and dance somewhere else. The tempestuous star receiver won’t return to the Philadelphia Eagles this season — or probably ever — “a result of a large number of situations that accumulated over a long period of time,” coach Andy Reid said Monday. Owens was suspended for Sunday night’s 17-10 loss at Washington, and will remain suspended for three more games. After that, the Eagles plan to deactivate him for the rest of the season.

Reid said the outspoken player “had been warned repeatedly about the consequences of his actions.” “We gave Terrell every opportunity to avoid this outcome,” he said.

Owens was suspended Saturday, two days after he said the Eagles showed “a lack of class” for not publicly recognizing his 100th career touchdown catch in a game on Oct. 23. In the same interview with ESPN.com on Thursday, Owens said the Eagles would be better off with Green Bay’s Brett Favre at quarterback instead of Donovan McNabb. Owens also was involved in a fight last week with former Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas, who remains with the team as its “ambassador.”

“The league has been notified by the players’ union that they will be grieving our right to take that action,” Reid said, “therefore there is nothing more that I can say at this point.”

[…]

Owens is scheduled to earn $3.25 million this season, meaning the four-game suspension would cost him almost $800,000.
The Eagles will have to pay Owens nearly $1 million to stay home the final five games.

Owens will either be traded or released after the season. He is due to receive a $5 million roster bonus in March 2006, so the Eagles will decide his fate before then. Owens made more than $9 million last season, when he helped lead Philadelphia to the Super Bowl.

Amazing.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. flydiveski says:

    I think I can safely speak for the rest of the NFC East when I say “Oh, darn. That’s too bad.”

  2. Bithead says:

    And it’s such a bitch to get Henley to suspend ANYONE. I mean, look at Walsh for gosh sakes.

    (Mumble, Mumble)

    What?

    (Mumble, Mumble)

    Oh.

    (Smile)

    Never mind.

  3. pb says:

    We should program what songs should be on T.O.’s iPod.

    In fact, I’m compiling a list of them.

    Vote now at:
    http://www.pambanana.com/to/

  4. SC says:

    Come on Mr.T O. Gifted or not, your abuse of social entitlement is not the kind of roll model I want my gifted children to emulate. Just the opposite, their gifts are a mandate for humility, for they are “gifts” not birthrights. Wise up T O.

  5. Lee McGhee says:

    I think Terrell Owens is a good football player even when he used to play for my team, the 49ers. But after hearing and seeing his apologic press conference, I strongly feel that Terrell Owens should remain suspended from the Eagles indefinitely and kicked out of the NFL. He has to be taught and made a example of, if you make the wrong decisions in life, their are serious consequences for your actions. I also strongly feel that his apology for the team, fans, and the coach wasn’t convincing nor genuine. I also felt the apology didn’t sound like it was coming from his heart and so again I feel the NFL commission and the Eagles made the right decision. Thank you.

  6. Poly says:

    queue Jesse Jackson:
    Here it tis!