Bandwagon media won't utter the "S" word

Sport's image suffers due to limp-wristed 49ers, NFL

September 29, 2003 (NHS) -- Once again, the pro-49er media that is famous for hiding the obvious when it comes to the 49ers won't utter the simple take of the moment:

Terrell Owens deserves to be suspended. Now. And those that are refusing to take the responsibility for doing it -- the 49ers and the NFL -- are damaging the game of football.

Owens' habitual little post-game whiny rants are one thing. If he wants to tick off his team and act like a buffoon laying blame on everyone else, that's his prerogative. But when Owens was featured on national T.V. berating and intimidating his cowering weakling of a coach, the situation crossed the line to a serious issue for the sport as a whole that merits a serious solution.

Make no mistake about it -- this episode was the verbal equivalent to Latrell Sprewell putting his coach in a headlock. He might as well have been rubbing Greg Knapp's nose into a stain on the carpet. It was demeaning and humiliating -- and this was his coach!

Owens' actions have clearly sent the message that he has become so arrogant, so demented, that he thinks he is Untouchable. He feels he can act any way he wants and treat anyone like garbage, because everyone is beneath him, littering T.O.'s perfect world.

And the media, the 49ers, and the NFL are letting Owens get away with it.

A stand needs to be made quickly before too much damage is done. Coaches yell at players, not the other way around, and only when it serves to impart a lesson. T.O., however, apparently believes he has nothing left to learn. No individual player is bigger than the team. Look around the league and you'll see this concept, and discipline, still exist. Ask Koren Robinson or David Boston, and the many other players who have been suspended for much, much less. Hell, even Steve Mariucci, the biggest wussy to ever walk a sideline, suspended Owens after his infamous Dallas shenanigans.

In America, people get outraged when someone acts like they are above the law or above the standard of common decency that we all afford to each other every day. It's why so many people relish in Martha Stewart getting in trouble with the law. It's not because of money or stocks, it's because she treats people so badly and got her comeuppance. It was that attitude, rather than the specifics of his crimes, that drove the media to crucify Richard Nixon back in the day.

Granted, the world of football doesn't possess nearly the import of Watergate, but Owens' attitude has reached a similar critical mass in the sport, and action must be taken to avoid a bad black eye to the image of professional athletics in general. In the Sprewell incident, the Warriors did the right thing and fired him, and the NBA did the right thing and suspended him. It doesn't matter that Spree ended up slithering away with his millions -- the message was the important thing. The sport was clean, the blame was laid at the feet of players' unions and sleazy lawyers. Force Owens to have to hire Johnnie Cochran to defend his antics.

Instead, the traditional hands-off approach that the NFL has afforded their preferred franchise is going to continue to the detriment of the game as a whole. One has to wonder what happened to the phrase "conduct detrimental to the NFL" when watching Owens bawl out his superior. Apparently, the only conduct that concerns the NFL is what color uniforms the Broncos wear, not having the sport become the showcase of the growing problem of the lack of respect for others ingrained in the in-your-face punk attitude.

No doubt the NFL's cop-out is that it's a team affair and should be handled by the Niners. It would be best for football if the 49ers outright suspended him -- not just for a game, but for the year. Imagine the message that would be sent to punk players everywhere that respect and class still count for something. A suspension would hit Owens at the only place he values -- his pocketbook. Imagine Owens having to sit out the rest of his contract year, leaving the other NFL GMs pondering if a free agent with one TD, 12.0 yards per catch -- and a mental imbalance -- is worth the $20 million signing bonus Owens feels he deserves.

A one game suspension at the very least would be a decent start to showing that the 49ers aren't the joke of a franchise they've become. Fat chance. This is the house that Bill Walsh built, so we know they are going to wuss out of any tough, honorable moves. Further, the 49ers have sold themselves on their own hype that they actually have a chance with Owens. As the SF Chronicle put it, "The 49ers ... think they have a shot at the Super Bowl with [Owens]. Without him, they're barely more than a .500 team."

Guess what? The 49ers are not even a .500 team with Owens. They are 1-3 and being ripped apart internally by Owens' continued antics. Instead of swiftly punishing Owens, the 49ers act as if they are afraid to face life without the protection of big, bad Terrell. It's the worst thing you can do to yourself when you make one individual bigger than the team.

For those that can't comprehend such a suspension scenario because you're so star-struck by Owens' divine majestic talent that gleans down over all the rest of the NFL peons, you need to open your eyes to the truth: He ain't all that and a bag of chips. Sure, he's big and can pad his stats against the weaklings on the Niners' schedule, but his weak hands are also a proven liability in big games, always dropping that key pass against the Rams, or the Bears in 2001, for another example. He's repeatedly come up small against winning teams time and again, such as this latest debacle at Minnesota.

If the 49ers stay the course in how they're handling (or not handling) Owens, not only are they a joke in the character department, but on the field, their best case scenario is Owens returns to his old self next week, romping against the pathetic Lions and other fluff, but vanishing against the decent teams. Big whoop. The 49ers can beat the terrible teams and lose to the better teams with or without Owens. If they suspend him, there's a chance the young team would appreciate the message and rally together. With Owens is only the chance of actually losing gimme games (such as to the Browns at home) because the team is so pissed off at him they've lost their composure and chemistry.

Since the 49ers lack the guts to suspend Owens, our next suggestion would be to trade him. It's a pipe dream given Owens' contract status, but some idiot team out there might just be willing to sacrifice a draft pick, which at this point is worth much more than the combined worth of having Owens the rest of this year and the nothing the 49ers will get when he leaves as a free agent. We can count on the 49ers, though, to choose the stupid, easy path and "let T.O. be T.O".

We can also count on the media to be completely blind to the suggestion of suspending Owens, because Owens gives the media what they hold most dear -- attention and ratings -- so they've sold out their integrity on the subject of him long ago. It just goes along with how the media have all these years applauded the 49ers for their untouchable stature in being above all the NFL rules. Will some columnist somewhere finally bow to public outrage and broach the "S" word as the week goes on? Probably. But the damage is already done in the fact that the idea of suspending him, which should have instantly been the discussion, completely eluded the mental faculties of the media.

Knapp, of course, is the real victim in this. The 49ers ownership has completely failed him not only as an employee, but as a human being. If he doesn't show up Monday morning and tender his resignation in the wake of such a lack of support from his employer, he has absolutely no self-respect. Of course, that's no surprise coming from a 49ers franchise that has had more than their share of spineless men happy to be taken advantage of for the 49ers' benefit.

The best thing for the 49ers would be to get rid of the cancer that is dragging them to the depths of the standings, and that disease is Owens. He's making the 49ers a joke. This would seem to be the best thing for Niner-haters, but we're football fans first. Owens is making the whole NFL a joke and needs to be dealt with for the sake of the game.

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