I thought of posting this in sports but this story has touched me spirtually.
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JACKSONVILLE – It’s always a fine line between the relevant and the ridiculous on Super Bowl media day, and by my count Terrell Owens had one foot in both camps for most of his hour-long session with the huddled journalistic masses on Tuesday morning at Alltel Stadium.
To wit: Owens says his broken right leg is good enough to go and he’ll definitely play Sunday against New England in Super Bowl XXXIX. Good to know. A relevant topic if there ever was one for the Philadelphia Eagles’ star receiver.
And then there was this: Owens also said his injury in mid-December was all part of God’s plan to give him an even bigger platform during Super Bowl week than he otherwise would have had, thus proving God’s greatness.
Uh, check, please. Don’t mean to break it to him, but Owens playing in the Super Bowl will not register as a modern-day miracle. I have no problem with athletes who speak of the power of prayer, or healing, or things of a spiritual nature. It is their right and it’s an intensely personal issue that no one can be the ultimate judge of. I myself believe in divine intervention.
But let’s keep things in perspective. The normal recovery time for Owens’ ankle injury was put at eight to 10 weeks. If he returns Sunday, it’ll be seven weeks since Owens last played, and about 6½ weeks since his surgery. Impressive, and perhaps courageous? You bet. But miraculous? Even if you’re willing to stretch, it’s not really going to give the whole turning water into wine thing a run for its money.
Just saying.
Or did I misconstrue Owens’ comments? Or take them out of context? You decide:
"I think God put me on this stage for a certain reason,‘’ Owens said. "I got hurt for a reason. I understand that. A lot of people don’t. A lot of people are questioning my ability and probably the risk that I take playing this game 6½ weeks after surgery. But it doesn’t really matter what people say about me, I know what I can do. I know how my ankle feels and that’s all that matters.‘’
When asked the reasoning behind his injury, Owens went on to say: "I think God is using me [and] put me on a platform to really show the world how great he is. God has put me in the position, and I’m welcoming that challenge. Just by the timing of me getting hurt, he had to sit me down and put things into perspective for me. And that’s what he’s done. He put me on the biggest stage of my life to show people how great he is.‘’
At that exact moment, and I’m not making this up, a voice boomed over the Alltel Stadium loudspeaker announcing that only 30 minutes remained in the Eagles’ media day. It sounded like a league PR type to me, but I must admit the words "voice of God’’ flashed through my head.
I tend to like Owens, and more times than not his many antics amuse me rather than get my undies in a bunch. And I’m not intending to belittle his battle back from injury or his faith in the unseen. But it really hits me as the height of self-absorption for a professional athlete to claim that his speedy recovery from an ankle injury – in time to make the Super Bowl – would be God’s chosen way to manifest his miraculous powers.
Can I get a reality check from someone? Anyone? It’s a football game. Owens is a football player. Sometimes football players get hurt, and sometimes, if the game is meaningful enough, they return to the field earlier than what is advisable. And that’s never going to change. If Owens had played two weeks after his surgery, that would be miracle territory. But almost seven weeks? That’s a fast healer who has a considerable threshold for pain and the utmost motivation.
Owens’ egotism on display Tuesday extended to him professing that he now realizes that God wants him to be a controversial figure, and thus his many headline-making stunts were all according to his life’s plan.
Puh-leez.
"That’s how God made me,‘’ Owens said. "He made me to be controversial, whether it was good or bad. It was in his plan for me to be controversial and I accept that. I feel like I’m a special individual. I am who I am, and you can’t dispute that and I’m not going to change that. I didn’t ask to be put on this stage. I didn’t ask to be controversial. I am who I am. I was T.O. before I got here.‘’
Huh?
Historically speaking, I think God generally has been on the side of controversial figures who change the world for the better through their principled stands against evil and oppression. Folks like Ghandi and Martin Luther King come to mind. I’m really not sure where God stands on such landmark incidents as stomping on the star at Texas Stadium, Sharpie-gate or the little number with Nicolette Sheridan. But I’m thinking those qualify as controversy of slightly less import.
The irony, of course, is that everything Owens really needed to say on media day, and the one thing that everyone showed up to hear coming out of his mouth, was uttered very early on in his Q&A session. The rest was just filler.
"I’m here, I’m going to play, and that’s it,‘’ he said, taking all the guesswork out of his status. "I can’t wait until Sunday.‘’
OK, so he’s playing. Now let’s all get to game day and find out how the story ends. Can we just do that, and let the T.O. saga rest until Sunday night?
Wouldn’t that be nice? Hey, a guy can dream. If it happens, I know what my first thought is: Will miracles never cease?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/don_banks/02/01/banks.to/index.html