Making it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame “should be purely based on stats,” according to Terrell Owens, who thinks he should have gotten in this year instead of Marvin Harrison.
Harrison had previously ripped Owens after hearing him complain about not being a first-ballot Hall of Famer earlier this year. It took him three tries to finally get his gold jacket, and he wasn’t having any of TO’s complaints: “So he can get his a– in whenever he gets in … if he gets in. If he doesn’t get in too bad. The h– with him.’’
In response to this, speaking with Maria Menounos on SiriusXM, Owens at least kept things civil and pointed to his stats as a reason he should be in over Harrison:
“He played a number of years with Peyton Manning, he’s an incredible receiver,” Owens said. “But again, when it comes to what the Hall of Fame is all about in terms of the criteria to get in, it should be purely based on stats and obviously my stats are better than his. …
“Of all the gold jackets that were there leading up to the actual day of the induction, everybody for sure was like I was a shoe-in. And at some point, yeah, I feel like I will get in, but I think with the body of work and what I did for the game, I should have been in first ballot.”
Owens’ point about Manning has some merit, but not much. Plenty of Hall of Fame receiver benefited from playing with top passers, and it shouldn’t be considered a knock on a guy if he did.
One wonders how much more impressive TO’s career stats might have looked if he had played with a guy of Tony Romo’s caliber for more than three years. That said, his career wasn’t exactly marred by poor quarterback play. He played with the likes of Steve Young, Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Romo.
And when it comes to raw stats, it’s not like Owens and Harrison don’t both sport impressive lines.
Harrison caught 1,102 passes for 14,580 yards and 128 touchdowns, playing in 190 career games, while Owens caught 1,078 passes for 15,934 yards and 153 touchdowns, playing in 219 career games.
At this point, it’s clear they both deserve to get in. Owens should just stop talking about the fact he wasn’t a first-ballot guy and be content to wait his turn.