Terrell Owens may have issued the knockout punch for the Eagles last week against the Ravens, but he should be penalized for a low blow against Ray Lewis–one that occurred during the following week. Before boxing matches, referees call the two fighters together in the center of the ring to give them the rules of the fight. One of the most obvious laws of the ring: no low blows.
Last week’s Philadelphia-Baltimore NFL matchup wasn’t just a run of the mill NFL game; it was a classic, heavyweight matchup between one of the league’s best offenses and one of the league’s best defenses. And, headling those two units, were two of the league’s biggest talkers: Eagles receiver Terrell Owens and Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. Owens provided the knockout punch for the Eagles by catching the game winning touchdown to defeat Baltimore.
Picture Owens slugging Lewis in the ring. The referee approaches Lewis, counts to ten, and then acknowledges Owens’ victory by holding up his hand. Owens nods his head in approval. And then, instead of celebrating with his managers in his corner, he walks up to an ailing Lewis, and starts talking smack to him, while Lewis rolls around in the ring, clearly in pain.
As if that’s not enough, Owens does the unthinkable: he issues one more punch. This time, the blow doesn’t hit Lewis’ head. It smacks him directly in the groin area. Low blow.
Because, essentially, that’s exactly what Owens has done this past week.
Mocking Lewis’ overplayed pre-game dance after scoring a touchdown is fine. It gives flavor to a somewhat conformed NFL, just as his Sharpie incident did, just as his pom-pom fiasco did, and just as his ripping down the “TO Has BO” sign did. Like Owens has said, if the defense takes offense to his touchdown celebrations, they should try to keep him out of the endzone in the first place. Valid point, if he has ever had one.
That was the taunting. Here comes the low blow: even after scoring, winning, and taunting, Owens, for some reason, feels that there is more to say about Lewis.
“You have a guy like Ray Lewis, who, I mean, I thought pretty much he was my friend,” said Owens. “I mean, this is a guy, you know, double-murder case, he could have been in jail. Seems like the league embraces a guy like that. But I’m going out scoring touchdowns, having fun, but I’m the bad guy.”
It seems that it’s not enough for Owens to win. It’s not enough for Owens to score the game winning touchdown. It’s not even enough for him to taunt Lewis during the game. He feels obligated to run his mouth, on sensitive issues, no less, during the week. And that’s why I have a serious problem with Owens.
Owens suffers from logorrhea. He just doesn’t know when to stop talking. Is he a headline grabber on the field? Absolutely. He’s one of the best receivers in the game? Is he a headline grabber off the field? Absolutely. And the two differ immensely. It’s not a coincidence that Tom Brady is so well-respected throughout the NFL. Not only is he an accomplished leader on the field, he is also well-presented off the field. When was the last time you heard Brady taunting an opponent, let alone bring up that his opponent was involved in a double murder case?
It’s true that top-notch athletes are often thrown into the limelight of the sports media. However, Owens’ job is to play football. It isn’t to run his mouth on the field, nor is it to belittle opponents off the field.
In this matchup, Owens may have knocked Lewis out, but the real result is clear: disqualification.
3 replies on “Low Blows Are For Boxing- Not Football”
Good article Are you a featured writer? I’ve never seen your articles on the voting list and this was not here 2 hours ago. Just curious.
I’m neutral in this matter so I won’t comment. Good job writing this story. I liked it.
No No, not a featured writer. Posted this story around 6:45 and it was up by around 9:30. My last two stories have been like that in time it was up. I thought it was weird, too. Maybe it got one vote for the front page and then it was off the list. Just a thought.
Where is the low blow? I can agree that he will never get a job as a diplomat, but I don’t see how what Owens said can be viewed as a low blow. Is it not public record that Ray Lewis was involved in a double murder case? And despite what Brian Billick says Lewis did plead to obstruction of justice. Owens, and others including Steeler Joey Porter (who was the first to bring this up this week), see a double standard, why shouldn’t he be allowed to point it out.
Furthermore your analogy has a flaw. Ray Lewis was not rolling around on the proverbial canvas in pain, he was calling Owens a coward at a press conference.