RAISE, CALL, FOLD—The T.O. Edition

Rumors in and out of the NFL offices are a perpetual game of partial information. There is usually some truth, some falsehoods, and some bluffs being run through the press. It’s a lot like Texas Hold’em poker, in that GMs, agents and front offices have to make player acquisition decisions based on some information but not all of the information at hand. This monthly segment will rate some of the rumors going around the league as either Raise (strong likelihood this is true… bet on it), Call (probably true… but don’t go to the ATM ), and Fold (false).

Most of the rumors right now are swirling around Terrell Owens.

Terrell Owens has been blackballed by the NFL. FOLD.

Terrell’s problems are self-evident. He’s slightly in decline and has been a wrecker of locker-rooms at almost every stop in his NFL career. There is no backroom conspiracy to keep T.O. out of the league there is simply open and honest discussion that most GMs are afraid of him for every controversy he’s publically been a part of and his reduced upside.

Terrell Owens will play in the NFL next year. RAISE.

Just as T.O. has not been blackballed, his career is not over. No matter how much you may wish the T.O. era to end it simply won’t this summer. Despite how terrible his VH1 show is and the fact the NFL should punish him for putting such dreck on TV he will be back. The flirtations with the Rams, Bengals and Jets are proof that a sucker is born every day and there is interest in T.O. At the very least even if he isn’t signed by training camp (which would probably make him happy) some team will find a spot for him during the season when beset by injuries or suspensions at the W.R. slot.

Terrell Owens will be a Jet, Ram or Bengal next year. CALL.

Okay, maybe this should be a fold based on the numbers. There are 32 teams in the NFL. Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and Buffalo aren’t signing T.O. We could probably eliminate a lot more teams if we wanted but to, but let’s say conservatively there are 10 more teams that simply don’t have room or interest in the receiver. That brings down the number of T.O. eligible teams to 18.

Three of eighteen, is a one in six shot, which is bad odds for a draw in poker, so it’s more likely that Owens will be on somebody else’s roster than the Jets, Rams or Bengals. However, those three teams have shown the most interest. The Rams have removed themselves for the moment but things can change early in a training camp and even with Sam Bradford as QB the Rams may be one injury away from dealing with Drew Rosenhaus.

The Bengals and Jets are well aware of T.O.’s problems and despite having difficulties entrenched in their organizations that might make them bad fits for T.O.—the Jets being in New York and the Bengals recent history of locker-room and legal bad guys—they were still interested. This makes them more likely to sign T.O. either now or later.

Terrell’s TV Series Will Be Canceled. RAISE.

The only surprise is that it made it to a second year. With Chad OchoCinco’s terrible dating show being a bad lead in for the T.O. Show (perhaps a sign for Bengals management not to repeat VH1’s mistake and pair these two on the field) both shows are dragging in the ratings game. T.O. is about to burn away another short stop on in his career.

Terrell Will Go Into the Hall of Fame As An Eagle. FOLD.

One will T.O. make it the Hall of Fame? He’s unlikable but likely one of the all time greats even as hard as it is to admit. So, probably yes. Two, after this year he’ll play for five teams in his career with possibly more to come. The zenith of his career was the Superbowl with the Eagles but T.O. was only there a short, short time. Besides probably not wanting to be paired with Donovan McNabb for eternity, T.O. will probably look most favorably on his time in San Francisco where he got his start, rather than Philly, or for that matter Dallas, Buffalo, or teams to be determined.

No one really likes to talk about injuries in the NFL American Football leagues but they are a fact of life and it is rather silly to pretend that they can go away. Anyway Favre seems to be unwilling to answer questions that relate to his injuries and therefore the journalists are having a field day speculating about what he might do in the future and how it might affect the way that he lives. There is some doubt as to whether he can realistically play in the twentieth season. Only he knows what exactly is going on but this will not stop the journalists from prying until they get to their quarry. That is the way of the modern media and the players have to get used to it if they are going to get any joy from the games or the different perspectives that they are playing.

Perhaps the cagey responses to the incessant questions comes from the fact that Favre has flirted with retirement over the past few years and the recovery process for the injury is not working out as well as he had hoped. There is nothing more frustrating that having an injury that is keeping you from the top of the game and yet you are taking ages to recover from it. This is one of the reasons that some plays give up on it all and announce their retirement once they realize that the injury is not a temporary problem but a fixture that is going to blight the majority of their career. If one has been a great champion it is very hard to settle for second best and many of them decide that this is the right time to call it quits.

At the same time the media can be very cruel about these matters. Every time a player loses a game or faces a significant injury then they start to talk about the possibility of retiring. That is so sad because it makes the pressure on the person even more acute than before.

The Atlanta Falcons signaler has already started to make encouraging noises about the American football NFL which would indicate that there is something that is brewing and which might be of interest to the players. The top pick has to be Sam Bradford who has gone past the post in terms of the most sought after players in the American football NF. The affable Ryan is rather committed to getting his team on the best footing for the new season as well as working towards an interesting balance of practice and play so that they team is free from injury. It is almost shocking to think that his rookie season was just in 2008 and the kind of success that he got there should indicate that there are great things to come for this player. At that point he helped his team to reach the playoff stage of the American football NFL series.
It will be important that the new team exploits the obvious advantages that come with Ryan in terms of getting consistent results within the American football NFL. First of all the coaching strategy has to concentrate on getting the best out of the players rather than going for glory all the time. A player like Ryan might have all the talent in the world but he or she needs to be nurtured so that they can make the maximum contribution to the American football NFL. If they are left to fend for themselves they will eventually be snapped up by the talent spotters who are always looking for an opportunity to make a quick buck on the talents of a great player such as Ryan.

As for the future prospects it is almost certain that Ryan will remain a star within the American football NFL and will give the league the kind of celebrity factor that it needs to compete with other sports. On interviews and other forums it appears that the player has his head screwed on firmly and will not fall prey to some of the distractions within the American football NFL. Please check NFL undrafted free agents at Doc Sports.