I sat down in front of the TV with my laptop to write my last blog assignment, I had no idea what I was going to write about. Then as I am watching Around the Horn on ESPN, the analysts were asked this question. "Is signing Terrell Owens worth the risk?" It was the perfect topic for my last blog.
Terrell Owens is arguably one of the best receivers in the NFL today. He is 6'3", 220 pounds, fast and athletic, he has all the attributes of a great NFL receiver. He has one downfall however, his attitude. He has been let go by 3 teams (49ers, Eagles and Cowboys) for off the field problems, nothing to do with his football ability at all. He is a disruption in the locker room, he bad mouths his teammates and coaches and is selfish. All 32 NFL teams now can sign Owens to a contract, but they know how risky of an investment it would be to do so. To sign him they would have to pay him a huge contract with potentially a negative return. Teams will have to decide if Owens is worth the risk, knowing they could potentially lose millions of dollars. They know what they will get on the field but they never know what problems his off the field actions will cause. It is a huge risk to sign Owens. If you are an owner who is risk averse you would not want to sign Owens to a contract. He is not a sure thing, you never know what he is going to give you on a certain day on and especially off the field. For Owens to get signed, he will need to go to a team where the owner is risk loving. The owner will have to be willing and actually want to take on the risk of Owens. If it works out you get a Probowl receiver that will greatly help a team, but if not he could ruin your team (just ask Tony Romo).
In my opinion Owens is not worth the risk. He is a great player on the field but his off the field actions trump all the good he does on it. One little risky investment (Owens) with potential huge profits is not worth the risk to my entire investment (My team) as a whole.
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I have to disagree with your position that TO is a poor investment. For a team like Buffalo, signing TO is a great investment. He will be a solid compliment to Lee Evans and will provide marketability and publicity to a “boring” team.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure what “risks” people refer to when they talk about TO. He lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl in 2005 on a broken ankle and helped the Cowboys to a 13-3 season in 2007. Yea he might be a headache in the locker room but there is nothing to suggest that his presence on the field has a negative effect in the win/loss column.
He is one of the most driven players in the league, it just so happens that he thrives on attention.
From an economic perspective he is one of the best investments an owner could make. Terrell prides himself on being an entertainer and this is something that appeals to the fans and sells tickets. On top of that TO doesn’t have a criminal record, something that cannot be said for a lot of NFL players.
What is riskier?
Signing a player whose TD celebrations garner attention every week.
OR...
Signing a player whose run-ins with the law garner attention every week (Pacman Jones, Ray Lewis, Plaxico Burress, etc).
The “risks” of signing TO are fairly reflected in his salary. Signing one of the best receivers in the league for $6.5 million is a bargain if you ask me.
I agree that T.O. is a bad investment. First off, I believe that T.O. agreed to this contract because he has no leverage throughout the league and the Bills were the only team who are risk loving enough to take a chance with T.O. and see his marginal benefit at an extremely high rate compared to his marginal cost of his salary during these deprived economic times. Secondly, to me, T.O. will be a negative externality to the Buffalo Bills in terms of a team player and become a moral hazard to the team. The only positive aspect I could see is the attraction T.O. could bring to the Bills and increase ticket revenue from fans just to see how T.O. will act and how this situation will play out. Besides that, he will remain as "Team Obliterator" and will be with another team in 2010.
ReplyDeleteI whole heartedly disagree that T.O. is a bad investment for an NFL franchise from a business standpoint. The goal of any NFL is to make money plan and simple, yes they can talk about how much winning a title means to the team and what not, but the fact that the business people who run the team really want the title because they know it will increase revenue by getting more fans to go to games, watch the games on TV, and buy their merchandise. A team like Buffalo really isn't good enough honestly in their current form to win a championship, and they have been struggling financially for years now, they even have played some of their "home" games in Toronto. All though they would never say this publicly most people in the Bills organization probably feel that their team is at least a year away from seriously contending for a title. So this coupled with financial problems makes T.O. a perfect signing. Buffalo is a small market team that does not get a lot of media exposure when they are not winning, and T.O. is a player that no matter where he goes or what he does there is always a camera on him because people are fascinated by what he will do next. There was a reason that the Cowboys were on national TV every week last season and it had nothing to do with them being a good team. It was because people would tune in just to see what new drama was unfolding for them and what T.O. was doing. The Cowboys were the only team in NFL with their own ESPN reporter. T.O. bring media attention, TV ratings, and increased ratings wherever he goes. Buffalo realized this and said hey for the a measley (in NFL terms) 6.5 million bucks we can get our team on national TV every week, more fans in the seats and more merchandise sales then we could imagine. So the possible returns that T.O. could bring to the team in terms of revenue far outweigh the problems of team chemistry from a business perspective. And hey who know maybe he can even make the Bills a better team.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree that T.O. is a poor investment. He's already a hall of famer for what he has accomplished, and he's still going. Sure, he has had problems off the field, but the cities he's play for have a lot more than just football going on. I have been to Buffalo, and to be honest, there isn't much to do. If he gets in trouble there, then it proves everything, but the Bills should be pumped about having a star receiver to compliment the upcoming developement of the franchise. To defend him, problems may never have developed in the past if thye had just thrown him the ball more...
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