The Slippery Slope of Character Assassination
Although diversity is a fundamental aspect of God’s Laws which govern the evolutionary process, this diversity is a tad difficult, and for some more than a tad difficult, to appreciate. Difference is often considered bad or even evil, something to fear—and if not fear, then to discredit or punish the object of our dislike.
The more we depend on our gut feelings to judge others, the less likely we are able to treat the object of our dislike fairly. While these kind of injustices are more common in sports, politics, and religion, the problem is systemic in human societies. Only if we can recognize, and even maybe understand, our prejudices can we hope to be more fair to those diverse from ourselves.
Certain character traits are clearly fair game—dishonesty, using other people for personal gain, theft, murder, cruelty, laziness, and so on. I suppose some traits may be borderline. As a hobby I tend to be intrigued by people who are different, and yet successful at their endeavors. For me it becomes a constant question as to why some successful people are so hated by so many people. One of the more complex personalities I have followed for years is Terrell Owens.
Here is a player, who by his stats, is one of the three best wide receivers in NFL history. One might think this would make him a shoo-in for first year of eligibility into the Hall of Fame. It was not, and not even the second year. It was off the field issues which are holding him back, with some voters claiming he was such a bad character that no one wanted him, he hurt the success of the teams he was on, and in fact was a locker room poison.
It seems fair enough to say that the personality of Terrell Owens is different and is annoying, like very annoying, to a good number of people. For one thing, after he scores a touchdown he should act like he has been there before and not show boat. For another thing, he brags about himself, almost as much as Ali used to do in his hay day. The big difference is that T.O. bragged about himself, and not viciously make fun of his opponents like Ali did—for example, with Frazier. Add to that was Terrell’s tendency to not be real friendly with others in the locker room, or hang with any teammates off the field. Finally, he was often up in the face of his quarterbacks and coaches, to the extent he was difficult to control, and no one ever knew when he might tip over the whole boat if he felt disrespected or was being dealt an injustice.
For those who are irritated by the above, it is not surprising that they have strong negative feelings about Terrell and wish to hurt him in any way they can, if they ever get the chance. But now it gets tricky—real tricky. He has been an ideal citizen, to my knowledge never arrested for anything. This alone puts him in some kind of an exclusive club among NFL players. He has never, to my knowledge, verbally or physically assaulted any teammate or interfered with any player’s own training in practice. With little natural talent, he spent high school and most of college just building his body up and listening to coaches teach the first stringers and later, watching closely other great wide receivers. He trained all year round, worked as hard as anyone in practice, focused exclusively on football his entire career, leaving other aspects of his life to be less than stellar.
What I, or anyone else, thinks about his eccentric personal traits is irrelevant unless others were being hurt by his behavior. When some people become apoplectic at his antics after a touchdown, they are ignorant in the sense “he hasn’t ever been there” (been somebody instead of a nobody) before. He had no normal childhood and was not even allowed to leave his yard except for school and practice. He is an extreme loner and always has been. This is not against the law. He focuses on his own performance, giving little thought to the activities of others on the team. That is not against the law either. In fact, T.O.s amazing stats would surely not exist were it not for his personal genetic willpower and learned self-focus. Were he to have the personality his detractors prefer, he would not have gotten to the top of his field, but still be unremarkable in his life as are most persons raised in a difficult environment.
“Nobody wanted him” . How silly is that? He spent 8 years in S.F., left on his own over salary matters, had Hall of Fame numbers the entire stint there, then went to Philly, had Hall of Fame numbers there, had another salary dispute and spent several years in Dallas until he was in his late 30’s—an age when hardly any wide receivers are still in the league, yet still picked up by two teams. So, the reality is that until he was in his late thirties, he never had any problem being picked up by teams.
“He was a poison in the locker room”. This is even more ridiculous. Every team performed worse after he left. Some poison! His critics have not identified many, if any, former teammates who think he should be held back for entrance into the Hall of Fame because of his demeanor in the locker room. Many teammates have given what is often the typical answer: “I don’t know T.O. too well. He keeps to himself. He rarely speaks to me. He works exceptionally hard and when the game starts we all appreciate having him on our team. He helps us win.”
“He throws his quarterbacks under the bus.” Huh? Almost without exception all his quarterbacks had their best years and would make Pro Bowl when he was on the team. Every quarterback he had has publicly stated that he belongs in the Hall of Fame the first year of eligibility. Did he put a lot of pressure on them.? Yes he did, but the results speak for themselves. Only one of his quarterbacks is a Hall of Famer, and yet T.O. put up good numbers wherever he played. However strange or different his character, he seemed to bring out the best in his quarterbacks. That qualifies as throwing them under the bus? I don’t think so.
“He was a pain in the ass to have around”. That’s true if we are talking about coaches and owners. For franchises which are run like plantations, Terrell Owens is not a very good step and fetch it. He simply cannot, given his mental state, dance to the tune of others. It was simple to T.O.: If he was going to put up Hall of Fame numbers, he wanted to be paid at that level. Owners found that a problem. Did his coaches hate him? Not at all, but they were frustrated because they, like everyone else, could not penetrate his inner bubble in which he lived. He was difficult to understand. But when the game started, they loved him all over again. Every coach has gone on record to state that he deserves admittance to the Hall of Fame on the first ballet.
Will he ever get into the Hall of Fame? I don’t think, at the time of this writing, that he really cares anymore. You cannot trash a person’s character year after year, and then be in any position to honor them about anything. The dishonor will easily outweigh any honor. By their own attitude and behavior, some members of the Hall of Fame electors have projected their own character flaw which is far more grievous than any of T.O.’s unique personality traits. They are not judging a player’s athletic performance, but seeking revenge against someone whose personality is just different from their own.
While it is never smart to predict T.O. about hardly anything, I doubt he cares as much for this Hall of Fame stuff as he did about his level of performance while playing. That his coaches, quarterbacks and teammates have been supportive is reward enough for T.O.’s very private world. They never understood him anymore than others, but they appreciated him and valued having him on their team. Jerry Rice once stated that “It is never smart to cross T.O. He will never forget or let you remotely close to his world again”.
What the committee did was a cheap shot, a mean spirited prejudicial act that achieved nothing, was pure character assassination, and of course cannot change his remarkable performance as a player for like 16 years in the league.
How big a deal is all this? By itself it is not a big deal. It certainly doesn’t eliminate his accomplishments. HOWEVER—we all, to varying degrees, too often use our own prejudices against others to put them down, treat them unfairly, discredit them, deny them rights, or titles or honors, or opportunities which is unfair and damaging to their lives. We need to always ask ourselves—has this person really behaved in a way which needs to be punished, or are we treating them badly because they are simply different from ourselves. The nice thing about the Golden Rule, the basis for human ethics, is that it doesn’t let us treat others this way. Had those on the Committee, who disliked T.O. personally, used this rule, no way would they have did what they did. These very same people would squeal like a pig if someone denied them an honor or promotion or whatever because of their personality. Given the nature of a sports writers’s job, they learn quickly that personality assassinations attract readers. Locker rooms are creations of the coaches, the players, and the owners. They have an array of punishments available to punish anyone for poor locker room behavior. It certainly is absurd to think a committee of sport writers would remotely be the best group to judge locker room behavior. T.O. got it right: “It is a joke”.
Most former teammates seem to describe T.O. as a rather distant unfriendly dude in a not so much an unfriendly manner as a unique person, off in his own world, a very special athlete with admirable work ethics, extra-ordinary will power, amazing self focus, with the capability of volcanic eruptions which can be unpredictable and uninhibited—albeit the energy generated seemed to push him to new heights of performance. Not easy to coach, not easy to understand, not easy to approach, seemingly self made and aloof from close friendships, he was nevertheless a special teammate who gave it all on the field in every aspect, and helped his team win games. No one will forget him as a teammate.
To be fair here. Our prejudices are the hardest attitudes to correct. Like smoking, for some smokers nothing seems to break the habit. I used to tell college students the first day of class: “I have no prejudices, I hate everyone.”
The NFL should intervene here, poll all his former coaches, quarterbacks, and teammates as to the veracity of the above and if the above is mostly true, then should enter T.O. as a first time elected Hall of Fame candidate, pre dated two years ago. It should also should be made clear to those who elect athletes to the NFL Hall of Fame that the locker room is off the table. Punishment for any alleged locker room misbehavior or contract disputes is the jurisdiction of the individual teams. There is no other way to undo the injustice being done to Terrell Owens here.
