Terrell Owens tells Buffalo Bills cam “I was the fall guy.” 

And, guess what? I think he’s right for the most part.

Yeah, I know in this ESPNized world in which we live, we all must march in step with the world-wide sports leader and declare T.O. the root of all evil in the world today. But the guy did catch 38 touchdown passes in his three years in Dallas. That’s more than any other player in the NFL during the same stretch.

Yeah, T.O. can be an arrogant pain in the rear, but blaming him for the Cowboys missing the playoffs or not winning a playoff game during his tenure is ridiculous. How about the QB who disappears in all the big games in December and January? 

Also, while we’re at it, the Vikings’ top personnel guy, Rick Spielman, quickly dismissed T.O. as a possibility for the Vikings last week, even though the Vikings are starving for a receiver.

“You never say never but you can put the pieces together and [Owens’] history with Coach Childress,” Spielman told our hard-workin boys over on Access Vikings.

Yeah, Childress and T.O. had a terrible relationship in Philly. But Childress also should find it in his heart to tip his cap to T.O. for that 2004 season.

You see, the Eagles went to I believe three straight NFC title games and came up short earlier this decade. Then, T.O. came along, caught 77 passes for 1,200 yards and 14 TDs, and, bingo, the Iggles made the Super Bowl during the 2004 season. Then, while T.O. was playing on a bum ankle at the Super Bowl, he caught nine passes for 122 yards in a narrow loss to the Patriots. He was exceptional in that game.

It’s no coincidence that Donovan McNabb didn’t get to the Super Bowl before T.O. or since T.O. left. Also, Childress didn’t climb to the top of the red-hot assistant coaching list until the Eagles made the Super Bowl.   

No, I don’t think T.O. in Minnesota would have worked. Neither the quarterback nor the coach would want to deal with him. But I do think it’s time to stop blaming T.O. for everything that goes wrong, and to give the guy some credit for being a pretty darn good NFL player.

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