T.O wanted to play for the 2021 Buccaneers.
Terrell Owens was a lot of things over the span of his career. One of the greatest receivers of all-time, a paragon of on-field consistency while also being a legendary headache off of it. Now Owens reveals that he tried to make what would have been the wildest comeback in NFL history, with the Buccaneers in 2021.
Owens said he was disrespected and ghosted by Tom Brady when he offered his services to the 2021 Buccaneers, who were trying to defend their Super Bowl championship on the eve of Brady’s retirement. Owens told the Houston-based Bubba Dub Show podcast that he felt like he was the missing piece to the puzzle.
“Tom Brady ignored me,” Owens said. “The year that AB went crazy . . . they just needed somebody to fill some holes with AB leaving at the receiver position. I reached out to him through Randy and some other people, just to come in and play third down and red zone situations. This dude ignored me. It just shows you the lack of respect there, but then when they get in front of you they want to act like they respect you.”
Far be it from me to doubt the chip on Owens’ shoulder (or defend Tom Brady), but my man... what exactly did you expect Brady to do? Antonio Brown’s blow up with the Buccaneers happened in Week 17, and the team was headed to the playoffs. Whether or not you reached out to him through intermediaries or not, Tampa Bay were just trying to keep things together for a playoff run at that point — and advocating for a new receiver wouldn’t exactly be on the list of priorities.
Furthermore, the biggest fallout of the Brown situation wasn’t just losing a receiver, it was the distraction it was causing for a team that had to be focused. You know what else would have been distracting? SIGNING A 48-YEAR-OLD WIDE RECEIVER WHO HADN’T PLAYED IN OVER A DECADE WITH A LONG HISTORY OF RUBBING PEOPLE THE WRONG WAY.
Even if we assume for a second that 48-year-old T.O. could have gone, why the hell would the Buccaneers have gone that route over literally any other receiver without a team?
We know how all this played out. The Bucs didn’t return to the Super Bowl, and Brady rode off into the sunset. Would T.O. have potentially changed that outcome? Absolutely not.
