To my immediate left, Terrell Owens is running a post route as Donovan McNabb sets to deliver a strike down the middle of the field to his streaking wideout. I should clarify that first statement by adding the words "their carefully placed bobblehead likenesses."
This absolutely priceless statuette of 5 and 81 smiling and working together has sat beside my computer since at least 2005. And contrary to those who still want to know exactly what happened on that last drive in the Super Bowl, each day I look at it, I feel no longing whatsoever for "what could have been." Instead, I rejoice in what was. For the love of all things outlandish, we witnessed Terrell Owens doing situps in his driveway!
Honestly, I am of the legitimate impression that I could play through this he said/he said soap opera with T.O. and Five for the rest of my life. So, imagine unbridled joy when this story broke across the wires late last night...
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In a recent interview with GQ magazine (where athletes now go to say things that are sure to stir up trouble -- Will Leitch/Mike Vick), Terrell Owens is painting the picture that former all-pro linebacker and team captain Jeremiah Trotter was really on his side of the T.O. vs. Donovan fiasco to which we all bore witness during the '05 season.
“Well, I probably should have done...,” [Owens] begins, rubbing his hand along the contours of his massive shaved dome. Then he stops himself. “No. No. Listen, I was in the locker room before the press conference [where he was instructed to apologize for his commentary that the Eagles would have been undefeated with Brett Favre and without McNabb], and my team captain, Jeremiah Trotter, read through that apology they wrote for me. He got to the bottom part, the part where it had the stuff about Donovan, and he did this.” Owens snatches a piece of paper from the table and rips off the bottom three inches. “This is the team leader we’re talking about; he told me not to do it.” (Trotter's response: "Totally inaccurate. I would never do anything like that. I never even saw the letter. I'm the one that told him to apologize to get back on the team.")
Our favorite part of the story, the one you won't hear from Owens, but will hear from Les Bowen, is that, according to Bowen -- who saw the full written apology in Owens' locker after the aforementioned press conference -- Trotter never ripped anything from the apology, as the paper it was printed on was not damaged in any way.
News
Seeking to immediately distance himself from T.O.'s version of events beyond the denial already printed in the article, Trotter tweeted last night:
#embedly_twitter_75549357{background:url(http://a2.twimg.com/profile_background_images/358352207/Jeremiah_Trotter_Twitter_Background-01.jpg) #C0DEED; padding:20px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 p{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 0px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .embedly_tweet_content{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} #embedly_twitter_75549357 p span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:0px;height:40px; padding-bottom: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 p span.metadata span.author{line-height:15px;color:#999;font-size:14px} #embedly_twitter_75549357 p span.metadata span.author a{line-height:15px;font-size:20px;vertical-align:middle} #embedly_twitter_75549357 p span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 10px 0 0px;width:48px;height:48px} #embedly_twitter_75549357 p a {color: #0084B4; text-decoration:none;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 p a:hover{text-decoration:underline} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .embedly_timestamp{font-size:13px;display:inline-block;margin-top: 5px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .components-above span.embedly_timestamp{font-size:10px;margin-top: 1px;line-height:12px} #embedly_twitter_75549357 a {color: #0084B4; text-decoration:none;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 a:hover{text-decoration:underline} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-screen-name {font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-full-name {padding-left: 4px; color: #999; font-size: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-actions{margin-left: 10px;font-size:13px;display:inline-block;width:250px} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .components-above span.tweet-actions{font-size:10px} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .controls{line-height:12px!important} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-actions a {margin-left:5px} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-actions a b{font-weight:normal} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .components-above span.tweet-actions a b{vertical-align:baseline;line-height:12px} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .components-above .tweet-text{font-size:13px;vertical-align:baseline} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-image {float: left; width: 40px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-user-block-image {float: left; width: 48px; height: 48px} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-row {margin-left: 40px; margin-top: 3px;line-height: 17px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-user-block {margin-left: -40px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .stream-item {padding-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .simple-tweet-image img {margin-top: 4px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .simple-tweet-content {margin: 0 0 13px 0px; font-size: 14px; min-height:48px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .in-reply-to-border {border-color: #EBEBEB; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0 0;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .in-reply-to-text {margin-left: 4px; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 10px; color: #999; font-size: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-actions i {background: transparent url(http://a2.twimg.com/a/1306889658/phoenix/img/sprite-icons.png) no-repeat;width:15px;height:15px;margin:0 4px -3px 3px;outline: none; text-indent:-99999px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;position:relative;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-actions a.retweet-action i {background-position:-192px 0;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-actions a.reply-action i {background-position:0 0;} #embedly_twitter_75549357 .tweet-actions a.favorite-action i {background-position:-32px 0;}RoadKarma AJ P.@JTrotter_54 @terrellowens yeah man why u lying? Let me know too Jan 19 Favorite Retweet Reply terrellowens Terrell Owens@RoadKarma @jtrotter_54 lying about what? Jan 19 Favorite Retweet Reply in reply to @terrellowens↑
@JTrotter_54
Jeremiah Trotter @terrellowens @roadkarma what u said in GQ Mag. Thats a lie U got my # call me dude!!!!!!
Jan 19 via Twitter for iPhone Favorite Retweet Reply
That said, he then twice reiterated his love for Owens shortly thereafter:
#embedly_twitter_5977167{background:url(http://a2.twimg.com/profile_background_images/358352207/Jeremiah_Trotter_Twitter_Background-01.jpg) #C0DEED; padding:20px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 p{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 0px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .embedly_tweet_content{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} #embedly_twitter_5977167 p span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:0px;height:40px; padding-bottom: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 p span.metadata span.author{line-height:15px;color:#999;font-size:14px} #embedly_twitter_5977167 p span.metadata span.author a{line-height:15px;font-size:20px;vertical-align:middle} #embedly_twitter_5977167 p span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 10px 0 0px;width:48px;height:48px} #embedly_twitter_5977167 p a {color: #0084B4; text-decoration:none;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 p a:hover{text-decoration:underline} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .embedly_timestamp{font-size:13px;display:inline-block;margin-top: 5px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .components-above span.embedly_timestamp{font-size:10px;margin-top: 1px;line-height:12px} #embedly_twitter_5977167 a {color: #0084B4; text-decoration:none;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 a:hover{text-decoration:underline} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-screen-name {font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-full-name {padding-left: 4px; color: #999; font-size: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-actions{margin-left: 10px;font-size:13px;display:inline-block;width:250px} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .components-above span.tweet-actions{font-size:10px} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .controls{line-height:12px!important} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-actions a {margin-left:5px} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-actions a b{font-weight:normal} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .components-above span.tweet-actions a b{vertical-align:baseline;line-height:12px} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .components-above .tweet-text{font-size:13px;vertical-align:baseline} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-image {float: left; width: 40px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-user-block-image {float: left; width: 48px; height: 48px} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-row {margin-left: 40px; margin-top: 3px;line-height: 17px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-user-block {margin-left: -40px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .stream-item {padding-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .simple-tweet-image img {margin-top: 4px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .simple-tweet-content {margin: 0 0 13px 0px; font-size: 14px; min-height:48px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .in-reply-to-border {border-color: #EBEBEB; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0 0;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .in-reply-to-text {margin-left: 4px; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 10px; color: #999; font-size: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-actions i {background: transparent url(http://a2.twimg.com/a/1306889658/phoenix/img/sprite-icons.png) no-repeat;width:15px;height:15px;margin:0 4px -3px 3px;outline: none; text-indent:-99999px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;position:relative;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-actions a.retweet-action i {background-position:-192px 0;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-actions a.reply-action i {background-position:0 0;} #embedly_twitter_5977167 .tweet-actions a.favorite-action i {background-position:-32px 0;}
@JTrotter_54
Jeremiah Trotter @terrellowens despite your recollection and my recollection r different I still love u man!!!!
Jan 19 via Twitter for iPhon
e Favorite Retweet Reply
I can just see Jeffrey Lurie (as played by actor Jeffrey Jones) sitting in his office in 2005 and saying to Joe Banner, "I don't trust this Terrell Owens character one bit. And now he's got Donovan McNabb involved!"
...The linebacker, too.