Why Does the Media Demonize Terrell Owens and Lionize Ray Lewis?

One member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2018 pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in an as yet unsolved double murder.

Another member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2018 did not make many friends in the media but he worked hard, played hurt and earned the respect of most of his teammates.

Guess which of these two men is regularly lionized by the media and which one of these two men is regularly demonized by the media?

Media members stumble over each other to heap praise on Ray Lewis, who at the very least actively participated in a coverup of the murders of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar. Sports Illustrated writer Robert Klemko is one of the few media members who has not sold out to the Lewis cult of personality (a "crime" for which Klemko was denied access to the Baltimore Ravens' locker room when Lewis was an active player). Klemko recently penned a scathing indictment of what he called "the bubble" that has protected Lewis from having to face questions or any kind of scrutiny regarding the serious crime for which he pled guilty and the even more serious crimes for which he may very well be guilty:

For 13 years, Ray Lewis had hidden from his history. He hid behind his talent. He hid behind his religion. Most effectively, he hid behind his team's PR staff. His case isn't rare. The league insulates players in protective bubbles, and in doing so creates its own warped sense of morality that reporters are expected to adhere to. In this bubble, a story about the lasting consequences of a player being convicted of obstruction of justice related to the death of two men can seem outlandish, even predatory on the part of the media organization. In the eyes of Ravens players and staffers, we were out to dirty Ray Lewis. They refused to acknowledge the way he'd dirtied himself and dodged questions in the public sphere for so long. For two far-away families, the deaths were devastating, life-altering events. To the Ravens, they were ancient history.

So Ray Lewis will now be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, having never addressed his actions in a way that wasn't stage-managed, mainly because he didn't have to. The NFL's public relations machine made that possible, by creating an environment that limits player availability and bullies reporters who attempt to hold rich, powerful men accountable for their misdeeds.

The fawning over Lewis is even more outrageous and baffling when it is compared to the abuse that is heaped upon Owens, whose most recent "crime" is deciding to not attend this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony. Instead, Owens--one of the greatest receivers of all-time, who was twice denied Hall induction due to petty politics among the media voters--returned to his alma mater University of Tennessee at Chatanooga to give his acceptance speech and celebrate with his family, his friends, many of his former teammates, and others.

Media members assert that Owens was a divisive force in the locker room. Tell that to his San Francisco teammate Derrick Deese, who attended Owens' celebration and said before Owens' speech, "Once people hear him today and what he has to say, they’ll shut up." Deese knows that the media caricature of Owens bears little relationship to reality. The media stated that Owens' Philadelphia teammates hated him--but the reality is that when Deese went to Owens' birthday party during Owens' tenure with the Eagles over 40 of Owens' teammates were there. Deese knew that, contrary to media accounts, Owens was a good leader whose halftime speeches to his teammates echoed the kinds of speeches that Jerry Rice had once given.

One of Owens' former coaches, Ray Sherman, declared, "People often confuse anger with passion. I never knew an angry T.O. He was never defiant or disrespectful. He was honest."

Owens delivered a heartfelt, inspirational speech. He began by stating, "I'm here to speak truth to power. And power to truth." Later, Owens told anyone in the crowd who had ever felt like an outcast to stand up and he says the same thing to anyone who ever felt isolated, or misunderstood, or who had been "been lied on, mischaracterized." Eventually, everyone in the audience was standing and Owens said, "The entire speech you thought was about me—this was for you."

Ray Lewis won two Super Bowl titles and Terrell Owens did not win any but Owens is more of a champion in life--in what really matters as a human being--than Lewis will ever be. Shame on the media for painting such distorted portraits of both men, lionizing someone who covered up murder while demonizing a hard-working and dedicated competitor who never lost sight of what really matters.

Terrell Owens Decides to Not Attend Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and His Critics Lose Their Minds

Terrell Owens announced that he does not plan to attend the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony this fall and that has provided fodder for his many critics to crawl out of dark corners to pick on him yet again. Instead of delving into the media-created controversy or relying on second-hand accounts about Owens' thought process, here is Owens' official statement:

I am so grateful for all of the support my family, friends, and certainly my fans, have shown me throughout my entire career in the National Football League. When it was announced that I was going to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the response received from my fans was overwhelming, and I am truly humbled. I am honored to be included among this group of fellow inducted individuals.

While I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity, I have made the decision to publicly decline my invitation to attend the induction ceremony in Canton. I have already shared this information with the Hall. After visiting Canton earlier this year, I came to the realization that I wish to celebrate what will be one of the most memorable days of my life, elsewhere. At a later date, I will announce where and when I will celebrate my induction.

I would also like to thank the San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys, the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals for the time I was granted with each organization. I am thankful for the relationships forged and the lessons learned while part of each team.

I wish to congratulate all past, current and future inductees. It is quite an honor to be part of such elite company. This honor is something that I will cherish forever.

Forget what anyone else says or has said about this issue. Owens' own words are measured and respectful toward the Hall of Fame, each of his former teams and his fellow inductees. Owens has the right to decline to attend the ceremony and he has made the public announcement of his intentions months in advance so as to not inconvenience or surprise the event's organizers.

Let's also make something else clear: Owens should have been selected as a first ballot Hall of Famer. It is obvious that he did not somehow become a better player or a more deserving Hall of Fame candidate three years after he became eligible for induction. The Hall of Fame voters--not just in pro football, but in other sports--have often revealed themselves to be ignorant and/or biased. If I were Owens or anyone else who was repeatedly snubbed for no good reason then I would be upset/outraged and that upset/outrage would not instantly disappear upon belatedly receiving the honor. The voters did not do anything for Owens and he does not owe them anything; Owens earned Hall of Fame status by virtue of his productivity and his durability.

What would I do if I were Owens? I would show up at the ceremony, speak about my journey to the Hall of Fame, thank those who helped me to achieve that honor and perhaps say something about the flaws in the voting process that result in deserving players either not being selected or having to wait for many years before being selected. I understand the perspective of those players who are already inducted in the Hall of Fame who feel like Owens should show up at the ceremony and publicly embrace joining the only team from which you cannot be traded or cut. It is a great honor to be selected as a Hall of Famer.

Does that mean it is wrong for Owens to not show up?

No.

If Owens feels hurt by being snubbed and/or if Owens prefers to celebrate this milestone achievement in some other manner, he has earned the right to do so. The Hall of Fame invited him to the ceremony and he politely declined. While Owens' decision is unprecedented, he has the right to make this choice and he announced his choice in a respectful manner.

Owens' critics should do some real soul-searching about why his words and choices elicit such a visceral reaction.

Terrell Owens' Belated and Deserved Selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football's Hall of Fame 2018 Class includes Bobby Beathard, Robert Brazile, Brian Dawkins, Jerry Kramer, Ray Lewis, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens and Brian Urlacher.

Each inductee has a life story worth telling but this article will focus on Terrell Owens. Owens overcame a troubled childhood--he was raised by his grandmother and did not know for several years that a man who lived across the street from him was in fact his father--to become a great, all-around football player. Owens was not only a tremendous wide receiver from the standpoint of catching the ball but he was a strong runner after the catch, a powerful blocker and a prolific touchdown maker. He finished his NFL career with 1,078 catches for 15,934 yards, a 14.8 yards per catch average and 153 receiving TDs. He ranks second in career receiving yards behind only Jerry Rice and third in receiving touchdowns behind Rice and Randy Moss. Owens is fifth in NFL history in total touchdowns (156) behind Rice, Emmitt Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson and Moss. Owens ranked fifth in career receptions when he retired in 2010 and he still ranks eighth now.

Owens was inducted after his third appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot. Some would say that first ballot selection ultimately does not matter because all that really matters is getting in but Owens clearly deserved to be inducted the first time around; making him wait two years as "punishment" for some imaginary, perceived sin is ridiculous and spiteful.

Instead of praising Owens for his work ethic, his willingness to play hurt (he had an MVP-caliber performance on a broken leg during Super Bowl XXXIX) and his exceptionally consistent production over a long career, the media repeatedly and unfairly targeted Owens for criticism. Brett Favre came from a humble country background but was hailed as a hero despite his alcohol/drug addiction, a sexting scandal and a reckless playing style that proved very costly in many key situations. Owens never got in trouble with the law or the league the way that Favre did and Owens was a clutch performer but the media always found excuses to portray Owens in a negative light.

That is not to say that Owens always said or did the right thing but the overall reality is that the media often took Owens' comments out of context and manufactured/exaggerated so-called controversies at Owens' expense, roasting Owens for figurative crimes while giving free passes to players who had literally committed crimes (including fellow 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Ray Lewis).

In 2009, when Owens had already more than put up enough numbers to deserve first ballot Hall of Fame induction, Michael Smith--then one of ESPN's supposed football experts, before becoming a SportsCenter host--was not sure that Owens is a Hall of Famer. Two years before Smith hesitated to give Owens his due, I declared that Owens should be considered a future Hall of Famer, refuting the commentators who tried to belittle Owens' strong resume. 

Owens' journey from deprivation and hardship to the Pro Football Hall of Fame is inspirational. I would rather have a guy who says "Who can make a play? I can!" and then does it, as opposed to a "gunslinger" who is going to sling interceptions with everything on the line. Favre was a great player and a deserving Hall of Famer in his own right but the media's hagiographic treatment of Favre while constantly belittling Owens shines a disconcerting light on how much personal bias influences the stories that are fed to us on air, in print and online.

Pro Football Hall of Fame Must Never Enshrine Art Modell

When Art Modell passed away last September, this is how I summarized his legacy: "In one of the most famous scenes in cinematic history, Marlon Brando (playing boxer Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront) laments, "I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it." Modell could have been a Cleveland hero, a beloved figure and a Pro Football Hall of Famer but instead he is widely viewed as a betrayer. His downfall is his own fault but that does not make it any less tragic; indeed, the hubris and shortsightedness that often leads to ruin are the very essence of tragedy."

Modell is a Finalist for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Terry Pluto brilliantly explains why Modell's career falls far short of Hall of Fame quality. You should read the entire article but here is a particularly noteworthy passage:

When it comes to winning, the strongest statement for Modell in the Hall of Fame is really a case for Blanton Collier to be in the Hall of Fame. 

Modell bought the Browns in 1961. He fired legendary coach Paul Brown a year later. Many Browns fans still hold that against him. After researching my book, Browns Town 1964, most of the members of that championship team told me that Modell made the right move. Brown had become rigid and very impatient with his players. 

Collier was a Paul Brown disciple, only with a personality better suited to the players of that era -- and a more modern approach to the game. In Brown's last four years in Cleveland, his records were 7-5, 8-3-1, 8-5-1 and 7-6-1. In Collier's first four, the Browns were 10-4, 10-3-1, 11-3 and 9-5. 

Collier made them a better team, period. 

From 1962-69, the Browns went to the NFL championship game four times in eight years, winning in 1964. Collier's record was 74-34, a .688 winning percentage. Collier also ran the football side of the front office.

Collier retired as head coach in 1971. In the next 25 years, the Browns were 187-188 ... with 12 winning seasons. Modell went through seven coaches after Collier, and only two had winning records -- Nick Skorich (30-24) and Marty Schottenheimer (44-27). Modell's playoff record after Collier was 4-10. 

That is Modell's resume as the Browns' owner: one good coaching hire leading to a brief period of success, followed by a quarter century of mediocrity culminating in financial ruin--something that is very difficult to do in a league that is flush with cash and that makes a point of distributing that cash as evenly as possible. Even the infusion of cash Modell received by fleeing to Baltimore only temporarily made him solvent and just a few years after traitorously abandoning the loyal Cleveland fans Modell was forced to sell his team--negating the very reason he gave for moving in the first place (namely, to keep the team in his family). It would be a travesty if the Pro Football Hall of Fame opens its doors to Modell; the only Halls of Fame he belongs in are the Hall of Mediocrity and the Hall of Betrayal.

John Madden: Style and Substance

John Madden is retiring after 30 stellar years as an NFL commentator for four networks. He started out at CBS in 1979, staying there until that network lost its NFL contract in 1994. He then moved to Fox. In 2002, Madden joined Al Michaels in ABC's Monday Night Football booth and since 2006 he and Michaels have done Sunday Night Football games for NBC.

Depending on your age/predilections, your most vivid image of Madden could be as a Super Bowl winning coach, as a highly animated TV commentator yelling "Boom!" and talking about "turduckens," as the name behind a hugely popular NFL video game--or even as a fixture in Miller Lite commercials:



As a kid, I got a big kick out of those Miller Lite ads. Isn't it something how back then writers knew how to be funny without being crass? Those Miller Lite spots are 100 times funnier than most of the "avant garde" ads from recent years.

I am not quite old enough to remember John Madden's coaching career, though as a student of the game I became quite familiar with it; my earliest recollections of Madden are of him teaming up with Pat Summerall on CBS: it always seemed like they broadcast the biggest games, first featuring the Dallas Cowboys and later featuring teams like the 49ers, Redskins, Bears and Giants. It was a treat listening to Madden talk about what made a young Bill Parcells a good coach or why Walter Payton was so special. Although Madden was always very energetic and enthusiastic during telecasts, if you paid attention to what he was saying you could learn something about the game: he had a keen, quick eye for what was happening on the field and his folksy way of expressing himself should not delude you into forgetting just how much he knows about the sport's strategies.

Madden also understood the human element of the game. Whenever he did Super Bowl telecasts, at the end of the game he would always say something to the effect that for the winning coach this was the greatest feeling in the world, something that no one could ever take away from him.

It was always hilarious to hear Madden carrying on during the annual Thanksgiving game about the "turducken." I first thought that he had just made the whole thing up but there actually is such a thing as a de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck stuffed with a de-boned chicken. Madden obviously had a lot of fun during the broadcasts but I respect the fact that he did his homework thoroughly before games, meeting with the coaches and key players so that he knew exactly what to expect from a strategic standpoint.

The All-Madden teams honored players who Madden felt played the game the right way and it was always interesting to hear his take about that.

It is very important to not let Madden's outsized persona make you forget that he was a great, Super Bowl-winning Hall of Famer who became the Oakland Raiders head coach at just 33 years of age in 1969. He posted a 103-32-7 regular season record and guided the Raiders to seven conference championship game appearances in 10 seasons, including 1976 when the Raiders went 13-1 in the regular season before drilling the Vikings 32-14 in Super Bowl XI. Madden's Raiders won seven division titles, never had a losing season and never finished lower than second in their division.

The Raiders have always been infamous for welcoming all kinds of characters onto their roster but Madden shaped and molded people who others might have considered misfits into winners. Madden often explained that he only required three things of his players:

1) Be on time.
2) Pay attention.
3) Play like hell on Sunday.

Gus Alfieri, the point guard on St. John's 1959 NIT Championship team, once told me that his Hall of Fame basketball Coach Joe Lapchick did not believe in having a lot of rules for his players; Lapchick thought that if he made too many rules then he would paint himself into a corner in terms of having to punish players and thus lose the flexibility to handle situations on a case by case basis. Alfieri noted that Bobby Knight has great respect for Lapchick and that Knight used a similar approach in that regard during his Hall of Fame coaching career (though the mild mannered Lapchick and the foul mouthed Knight had completely opposite demeanors in terms of how they interacted with people). Many coaches get so caught up in regulating minutiae that they lose sight of the fact that their job is not to control every waking moment of their players' lives but simply to lead and inspire their teams to maximize their potential.

John Madden was a winner on the football field and during his three decades as a TV commentator he added immensely to my enjoyment and understanding of pro football. I hope that he has a long and happy retirement.

Art Monk Highlights 2008 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class

Today the Pro Football Hall of Fame welcomed the Class of 2008: Andre Tippett, Fred Dean, Emmitt Thomas, Gary Zimmerman, Darrell Green and Art Monk. Green, who amazingly played cornerback in the NFL for 20 years, was the only first ballot selection in that group. Tippett helped New England make it to the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history but the Patriots fell 46-10 to the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX. Dean was a Pro Bowler with the San Diego Chargers but he really made his mark after the San Francisco 49ers acquired him in the middle of the 1981 season; he proved to be the final piece to their Super Bowl puzzle and helped the team to victory in Super Bowl XVI after that season and again in Super Bowl XIX. Similarly, Zimmerman was a standout offensive lineman for Minnesota but did not win a Super Bowl until he went to Denver, where he was John Elway's blindside protector for several years, including 1997 when the Broncos won their first Super Bowl title. Emmitt Thomas helped the Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl IV and he ranks ninth on the NFL's career interceptions list with 58. He has enjoyed a distinguished 26 year career as an assistant coach, winning two more Super Bowl titles along the way, and this season he will be Atlanta's head coach.

Although those five players each enjoyed great careers, the headliner of this year's class is without question Art Monk, as indicated by the fact that he gave the last speech of the night--and could not begin for four minutes due to a rousing standing ovation from the fans AND the assembled Hall of Famers. ESPN's Tom Jackson noted several times that the current Hall of Famers have been waiting for years for Monk--a finalist on seven previous occasions--to join them. Frankly, it is baffling that Monk had to wait that long. Apparently, this had something to do with him not being considered accommodating to the media during his career but if that is true than every writer who voted against him should be ashamed; this is not supposed to be a popularity contest but rather a recognition of football greatness. Monk set a record for single season receptions (106 in 1984) that stood for eight years and for almost three years he held the career reception mark, retiring with 940 catches, a total that currently ranks seventh on the all-time list. He also set a record by catching at least one pass in 183 straight games, a streak that is still the third longest ever. Monk is the first receiver to catch at least one touchdown in 15 straight seasons and he was a productive member of three Super Bowl championship teams. He is one of those players who everyone understood was a Hall of Famer during his career--during one of his highlight clips the announcer even called him a future Hall of Famer--but somehow slipped through the cracks once the official voting process began.

Before the induction ceremony, Jackson and Trey Wingo talked about Monk's protracted wait to receive this honor but they cut short that segment--and said little about the other five inductees--in order to give viewers yet another breathless update about Brett Favre, whose selfishness has now not only hurt the Green Bay Packers but also shamelessly intruded on the night during which six classy players received the highest possible football honor. I am disgusted that ESPN could not wait three hours to talk about how many millions of dollars Favre can extort from the Packers in exchange for doing what he said he planned to do all along: retire. Jackson took Favre's side and said that Favre should call the Packers' bluff, show up in camp and dare the team to end his NFL record streak of consecutive starts. Jackson added that Favre should not accept money to not play because in his heart Favre wants to play. Here's a news flash for Jackson and ESPN: if Favre really wanted to play then all he had to do was not retire in the first place.

I wondered what all of this was about until the story surfaced a couple days ago that the Packers are working on a deal to pay Favre $20 million or more as part of a "personal services contract." Basically, it's all about the Benjamins: Favre is extorting the Packers to pay him not to play. Then Chris Mortensen had the nerve to say that Favre loves the Packers too much to want to hurt the team or be a distraction--while in the same breath saying that if the Packers won't take Favre back then Favre wants to go to a team in their division so he can kick their butts twice a year; nothing shows your love for the Packers quite like beating them twice a year after ruining their whole offseason.

I've largely avoided writing about this whole Favre saga because I find his conduct so disgusting but when he interferes with the Hall of Fame ceremony that is going too far. I realize that he did not directly interfere with the ceremony but by making a public spectacle of himself he has encouraged this saturation coverage of his every text message and phone call. Football fans tuning in to the Hall of Fame ceremony deserved to hear about this year's honorees, not more Favre nonsense. Perhaps when Favre is eventually inducted the commentators can spend the minutes before that ceremony talking about Tippett, Dean, Thomas, Zimmerman, Green and Monk. That would be poetic justice.