iBlock. iCompete. iScore. iReleased?

iReleased could be the latest in T.O. tees, but for now it’ll just have to be the latest in T.O. news. ESPN’s Michael Smith reported that Terrell Owens has been released by the Dallas Cowboys early Thursday morning, adding another twist to the mercurial wide receivers legacy.

From the Cowboys perspective this looks like the old “addition by subtraction” move. It also will literally be an addition by subtraction because the Cowboys will add a nine million dollar salary cap hit and lose one of its most talented players. By carving out the teams most disruptive, divisive players the Cowboys should have a more cohesive team, which will be worth it to Jerry Jones in the long run.

So what’s next for T.O.?

His playing options are limited. Minnesota was in the market for T.J. “Championship” Houshmanzadeh and missed out, could T.O. end up there? N.O. Head Coach Brad Childress was at the epicenter of the anti-T.O. movement in Philly as Childress was the offensive coordinator during T.O.’s time as an Eagle. So the Vikes are out and we could see a pattern of this, much like we saw the suitors fall out in the Manny Ramirez market. MLB teams didn’t want to pay big bucks for a malcontent who’s just “him being him” and teams in the NFL aren’t going to want to pay T.O. to be T.O.

Owens’ rep has finally caught up to him. His production no longer backs up his mood swings or his salary. He complained about not being thrown to enough, even though he was targeted 140 times last season, but only converted 69 receptions. He’s killed QBs at every team he has played (SF - Garcia, Philly - McNabb and Dallas - Romo) and eventually the teams themselves.

So why does this happen to T.O.? Its because of his ego and need for the limelight. We can pinpoint it to one moment. Travel back to 1998 during the NFC wild card game, the 49ers trailing the Packers 27-23 with only a few seconds left. Steve Young drops back, stumbles and lets loose a strike over the middle and Terrell Owens plucks it out of the air in between four defenders for the game winning touchdown. Terrell Owens is overwhelmed, helped off the field, crying, mobbed by teammates, hugged by Mariucci (also Mariucci gives the fatherly/coach “Good Job!”) and finally interviewed about the play. It’s one of the more memorably moments of the ’98 playoffs. And it’s the pilot light moment that turned Terrell Owens into T.O. He realized that if he works hard, makes plays, he’ll get attention which he craves.

Soon it became less about how good the play was and more about the attention he could derive from it. Then we had standing on the Dallas Star, pulling out sharpies, gettin’ our popcorn ready, doing sit-ups in the driveway, mixing up medications and that’s my quarterback. My parents always told me about the difference between good attention and bad attention. Good attention was when I would get praise because of something worthwhile I did; bad attention was me seeking out attention or praise no matter what I did or sometimes getting in trouble just to get noticed. They explained this to me when I was five, T.O. still hasn’t gotten it and he’s 35.

T.O. will play next season, because he’s still in the top 10-15 players at his position and the NFL loves a second, third, fourth chance. I could see him on either the Raiders or the Ravens. Now, I know Coach Harbaugh was in Philly during T.O.’s run, but considering the Ravens made a play for him in 2004 (but the deal was botched in a weird contract mishap) and the team still needs a WR, we could see T.O. in a Ravens uni.

Plus, I love the idea of putting T.O. on a team with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. I think Lewis would love the challenge of shepherding this lost player and give the Ravens what they’ve always needed, a big play threat. And we would get hours of video of T.O., Lewis and Reed paling around. T.O. doing Lewis’ dance after a touchdown. Lewis’ odd motivational tactics, that for the record scare me purely on their intensity, with T.O. Good times. I want to see it; I think we need to see it. T.O. on the Ravens could put a button on strange trip that has been Owens’ career.

Think of the tees that would come out of that signing. iRaven. iRedeem. Maybe? iImplode.