November 8, 2005: Terrell Owens vs. the Philadelphia Eagles

November 8, 2005: Terrell Owens, superstar wide receiver currently feuding with his team, the Philadelphia Eagles, holds a press conference in the driveway of his house in the Philadelphia suburb of Moorestown, Burlington, County, New Jersey.

"T.O." had starred with the San Francisco 49ers, and was arguably the best receiver in the game at the time. Inarguably, he was the most controversial player, at any position. In 2000, he became the 1st player to catch 20 passes in a single game. He was known for his touchdown celebrations, but also for his eccentricities.

Famously, he had scored a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys, and then run to the star at midfield of Texas Stadium, and slapped the ball down in the middle of it. The Cowboys took this as a sign of great disrespect. When he did it a 2nd time later in the game, he got clobbered.

Finally, after publicly insulting his quarterback, Jeff Garcia, the 49ers engineered a 3-way trade with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Baltimore Ravens, involving players and draft picks. Coached by Andy Reid, quarterbacked by Donovan McNabb, and with a defense led by safety Brian Dawkins, the Eagles had reached, but lost, the last 3 NFC Championship Games. Now, they had the best receiver in the game.

His performance that season was not without controversy, including a November 7 loss away to the Pittsburgh Steelers, in which Owens was caught on camera, yelling at McNabb. But the Eagles won 13 of their 1st 14 games, up to a December 19 win at home to the Cowboys. But in that game, in a typically dirty Cowboys play, Roy Williams made a horse-collar tackle on Owens, breaking his ankle. He would be out until at least the Super Bowl.

Having clinched home-field advantage all the way through the NFC Playoffs, the Eagles rested their starters for their last 2 regular-season games, and lost them both. With McNabb, but without Owens, they handled the Minnesota Vikings to reach their 4th straight NFC Championship Game, and then the Atlanta Falcons, to win their 1st in 24 years.

Super Bowl XXXIX was played at Alltel Stadium (now Everbank Stadium) in Jacksonville, Florida, home of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. The Eagles played the defending Champions, the New England Patriots. No one has ever determined that the Patriots cheated in this game. But, having been caught multiple times already, they have forfeited the presumption of innocence.

With 5:40 left in the 4th quarter, the Patriots led, 24-14. At the time, before managing the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl win (UPDATE: By 2024, 3 of them), Reid was ridiculed for his poor clock management, and while the Eagles did score a touchdown to make it 24-21, only 1:48 was left when they did.

Eagles players Hank Fraley, Jon Ritchie and Lito Sheppard later went on record saying that McNabb was suffering from dry-heaves -- Fraley used the words "almost puking" -- on the sideline, but no video evidence exists, and McNabb has always denied it, and running back Brian Westbrook backed him up, saying he was just coughing.

The Eagles failed to recover their ensuing onside kick attempt, and then Patriots then played it safe by running the ball three times, and forcing the Eagles to use up their remaining timeouts. A punt put the Eagles on their own 4-yard line with 46 seconds to play. McNabb threw 3 passes, was unable to get the Eagles into field goal range, and the last pass was an interception. The Patriots won.

McNabb had thrown 51 passes, completing 30, for 357 yards and 3 touchdowns, but also 3 interceptions. Owens, with 2 screws and a metal plate in his ankle, but cleared to play in the game, caught 9 of those passes, for 122 of those yards, though none of the touchdown passes. 

In April 2005, Owens announced that he had hired a new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and indicated that he would seek to have his contract with the Eagles renegotiated. Owens made $9 million in 2004, most of which was bonus money, as his base salary was only $660,000. He was slated to make $4.5 million in 2005. This two-year amount did not place Owens in the top 10 paid wide receivers playing.

Asking for more money was understandable, based on his performance. Less understandable was his remark that he "wasn't the guy who got tired in the Super Bowl." This remark was viewed as a swipe at McNabb. It wasn't the 1st time Owens had clashed with his quarterback. But it was the 1st time one of his quarterbacks had gotten him into a Super Bowl. They certainly didn't lose the Super Bowl because of anything Owens did. They may have lost it because the Patriots were a better team -- or for a more sinister reason on the Patriots' part.

At first, McNabb and Owens were still able to coexist. The Eagles lost their opener, then won their next 3. They got to 4-2. But after a 49-21 loss to the Denver Broncos on October 30, tensions began to rise. On November 2, Owens was involved in an argument in the training room with teammate Hugh Douglas, which led to a fistfight between the two.

The next day, in an interview with ESPN, Owens was asked if the Eagles would be better off if Brett Favre, who had led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl win -- 9 years earlier, and was 0-1 in Super Bowls since -- were their quarterback. He said, "That's a good assessment. I would agree with that."

On November 5, the Eagles suspended Owens indefinitely for "conduct detrimental to the team." According to Rosenhaus, Reid demanded that Owens make a public apology to McNabb. Rosenhaus wrote one, but Owens refused to specifically apologize to McNabb, and the apology he read on TV did not address McNabb directly. The following day, Reid announced that Owens would be deactivated for the remainder of the season. The Eagles lost to the Washington Redskins, 17-10. After the game, McNabb returned Owens' favor, and said the team would be better off without him. (The result certainly didn't suggest that.)

On November 8, Owens and Rosenhaus held a news conference in the driveway of Owens' house in the Philadelphia suburb of Moorestown, Burlington County, New Jersey. He apologized to the fans, the team, and McNabb specifically, and also made an appeal for reinstatement to the team.

Then Rosenhaus took over. If you had bet money that Owens would turn the press conference into a circus, and Rosenhaus wouldn't, you would have lost:

Questioner: Did you make a mistake by having the contract renegotiated in midterm?
Rosenhaus: Next question!
Questioner: Isn't it pretty damning that the quarterback of the team comes out and says we're better off without T.O.?
Rosenhaus: Next question!
Questioner (to Rosenhaus): Why didn't you read the full apology, like you were supposed to, so that your friend would not be in this mess, had he done that?
Rosenhaus: Next question!
Different Questioner: Are you saying that ESPN is the cause of this?
Rosenhaus: Next question, next question!

The Eagles lost to the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, then beat Favre and the Packers, lost to the Seattle Seahawks 42-0, lost to the Giants in overtime, beat the St. Louis Rams, and closed by losing to the Arizona Cardinals and to the Redskins again, finishing 6-10, their worst season since 1999, McNabb's rookie year.

On March 14, 2006, the Eagles released Owens. Four days later, signed with the Cowboys, deepening what was already a very nasty rivalry. On September 26, he was taken to Dallas' Baylor University Medical Center, after what was eventually ruled to be an accidental overdose of hydrocodone, which he had been prescribed as a painkiller.

When the Cowboys went to Philadelphia on October 8, Eagles fans, never known for their tact, were merciless. Where they had chanted "T.O.!" until about a year earlier, now, they chanted, "O.D.!" And "Dallas sucks! T.O. swallows -- pills!" The Cowboys won, 38-24. Both teams made the Playoffs.

But Owens never got close to the Super Bowl again. The Eagles reached the 2008 NFC Championship Game, but lost. Owens remained with the Cowboys through the 2008 season. He played for the Buffalo Bills in 2009 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 2010. After not playing in 2011, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks in 2012, but was cut during training camp.

He retired with 1,078 catches for 15,934 yards and 153 touchdowns. I wondered -- especially since several receivers had fallen short in their 1st, 2nd, and sometimes more seasons of eligibility -- how soon he would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, if at all. He was elected in his 3rd year, 2018.

In addition, the 49ers have elected him to their team Hall of Fame. When the Eagles founded their team Hall of Fame, they automatically elected every Pro Football Hall-of-Famer who had played so much as one game for them. They have not followed that policy since, and Owens has not been elected.

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November 8, 2005 was a Tuesday. It was an Election Day. Michael Bloomberg was re-elected Mayor of New York. Senator Jon Corzine was elected Governor of New Jersey. And Tim Kaine was elected Governor of Virginia. He would later be elected to the U.S. Senate, and was nominated for Vice President by the Democratic Party in 2016.

Baseball season ended 12 days earlier, when the Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros in the World Series. There were 5 games played in the NBA: 

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 103-97 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta. Kobe Bryant scored 37 points.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Houston Rockets, 76-74 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 94-69 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-103 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* And the Detroit Pistons beat the Sacramento Kings, 102-88 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

There were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia. Joni Pitkänen scored the winning goal, with 3:05 left in overtime.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Washington Capitals, 6-4 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* And the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-2 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver. Pierre Turgeon scores for the Avs. For the former New York Islander and Montreal Canadien star, it is the 500th goal of his career.

February 6, 2005: Brady vs. McNabb

February 6, 2005: Super Bowl XXXIX is held at what was then named Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. (It's now Everbank Stadium.) The smallest metropolitan area ever to host a Super Bowl, J-ville was plagued with hotel, traffic and stadium issues, and is unlikely to ever host another.

The New England Patriots were going for their 3rd Super Bowl win in the last 4 seasons. In the 1st one, they were plucky underdogs that the whole nation could get behind. Now, people were starting to get sick of them. The fact that their neighbors, the Boston Red Sox, had won the World Series the preceding October 27, and their fans were acting sorer as winners than they ever were as losers, made it worse.

The Philadelphia Eagles were in their 4th straight NFC Championship Game, and had finally won it, to advance to their 1st Super Bowl in 24 years. Philadelphia vs. Boston had never been much of a rivalry in the outdoor sports of baseball and football, but was a major one in the indoor sports of basketball and hockey. Due to differences of league alignments, which have usually (but not always) been by geography, this would be the 1st NFL championship game, under any name, between teams from those metropolitan areas; and the 1st final in any sport since 1974, when the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup.

The 1st quarter ended scoreless. The Eagles struck first, early in the 2nd quarter, when Donovan McNabb threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to L.J. Smith. Late in the quarter, Tom Brady threw a 4-yard pass to David Givens, and the game was tied 7-7 as the halftime show was played by former Beatle Paul McCartney.

The teams traded touchdown passes again in the 3rd quarter, Brady 2 yards to Mike Vrabel, a linebacker lining up at tight end; and McNabb 10 yards to Brian Westbrook. It was 14-14 after 3 quarters. The Patriots took the lead in the 4th quarter, with a 2-yard touchdown run by Corey Dillon and a 22-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri, 24-14.

The Eagles had been boosted by the return from injury of Terrell Owens, who had, as he usually did, run his mouth plenty before the game. McNabb's throws to Owens helped set up a 30-yard pass to Greg Lewis, bringing the Eagles to within 24-21 with 1:48 to go. The drive took 3 minutes and 52 seconds, and Eagles coach Andy Reid was later criticized for his poor clock management.

Three of McNabb's teammates -- Jon Ritchie, Lito Sheppard and Hank Fraley -- went on record saying that, during that series, McNabb was throwing up. The video evidence proves that he wasn't, and Westbrook said that McNabb was only coughing. Though some Eagles fans, using their racism to scapegoat McNabb, forgetting that Randall Cunningham had preceded him as a black quarterback for the Eagles, have said he "choked" under the pressure.

The Eagles failed to recover their ensuing onside kick attempt, and had to use up all their timeouts as the Patriots ran the ball. A punt left the Eagles with the ball at their own 4-yard line with 46 seconds left. They needed at least 55 yards to get into David Akers' field goal range.

On 1st down from his own end zone, McNabb was pressured into making a rushed pass to Westbrook at the line of scrimmage. Instead of dropping the pass to stop the clock, Westbrook made the mistake of catching the ball, and was immediately tackled for no gain by Phifer, keeping the clock running, and forcing the Eagles to run back to the line of scrimmage for their next play with no huddle.

On 2nd down, McNabb threw an incomplete pass intended for Owens. On 3rd down, McNabb threw a pass that deflected off of the outstretched fingertips of Smith, and into the arms of Rodney Harrison for an interception with 9 seconds left.

The Patriots had won. It was 3 Super Bowl wins in 4 years, matching the achievement of the 1993-96 Dallas Cowboys. Sports Illustrated named Brady their Sportsman of the Year for 2005

It would be 2 more years before head coach Bill Belichick and his Patriots were exposed as cheaters, and another 11 years after that before the Eagles got their revenge, finally winning a Super Bowl, by beating the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. It would be 2 more years before Reid, as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, won Super Bowl LIV.

UPDATE: In spite of the 2001-08 Eagles' failure to win a Super Bowl despite 5 trips to the NFC Championship Game and 1 to the Super Bowl itself, the following players from that era have been elected to their team Hall of Fame through the 2025 season: Brian Dawkins, Troy Vincent, Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Jeremiah Trotter, David Akers, Tra Thomas, Jon Runyan, Hugh Douglas, Trent Cole; plus defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, ticket manager Leo Carlin, and broadcaster Merrill Reese. But head coach Andy Reid, thus far, has not been elected.

Dawkins, Vincent, McNabb, Westbrook, Trotter, Akers, Reese, and Veterans Stadium and former Lincoln Financial Field public address announcer Dan Baker have also been elected to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

From the years between the Super Bowl XXXIX loss and the long-awaited win in Super Bowl LII, the Eagles have elected LeSean McCoy and Malcolm Jenkins -- and Reese. Not enough time has passed for anyone to be honored from Super Bowls LII and LIX -- except, of course, Reese.

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February 6, 2005 was, like all Super Bowl days, a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. The NHL season was canceled over the team owners' greed. There were 4 games in the NBA:

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-104 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 103-102 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Toronto Raptors, 122-113 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* And the Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 103-100 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.