IRVING – Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens did some housecleaning, clearing out his locker at Valley Ranch on Sunday uncertain of the future and firing his publicist, Kim Etheredge, last week.
It was Etheredge who made a 911 call in September after she arrived at Owens' condo and discovered he was nonresponsive to her questions. It was determined by Dallas police and health officials Owens suffered an accidental overdose on pain medication and supplements. Owens credited her with saving his life.
At the end of a news conference explaining what happened, Etheredge made national news when she said, "Terrell has 25 million reasons why he should be alive."
"It was a business decision," Owens said Sunday night. "It was nothing personal."
He said he plans to hire a new publicist in the near future. Etheredge declined to comment.
Owens, who led the Cowboys in receiving this season, finished with two catches for 26 yards in the wild-card loss to Seattle.
Owens said he wants to remain with the Cowboys, but numerous rumors have been raised about his future.
"There is always the speculation that where there is smoke, there is a fire," he said. "My thing is, I enjoyed the players here. I'm not saying that I'm not reading into that I'm going anywhere. You have to be prepared for the worst."
Owner/general manager Jerry Jones said he wants Owens to return. But several factors could sway things.
The Cowboys are due to pay receiver Terry Glenn a $5 million roster bonus in March and Owens a $3 million roster bonus in June. It would appear the team might not keep both receivers, but it could happen.
"That's way down the road, relatively speaking," Jones said.
Owens has complained about how he was used in the offense. He would like to see more passes out of the slot position, something that occurred in his previous stops in Philadelphia and San Francisco. But the Cowboys primarily used Owens in the split end position, and he ran a few times out of the slot.
"I'm a guy that has been playing in the slot, inside, outside and making a lot of things happen," Owens said. "I felt that I was on the backside on a lot of plays and didn't get involved in the offense. If you look at my numbers, they could have been better and could have facilitated a lot more wins if I had been more involved."
Several players, including Glenn and cornerback Terence Newman, expect Owens to return.
"I don't see why not. He signed a three-year contract; he's got two years left," Newman said. "I wish I made the decisions."
E-mail cwatkins@dallasnews.com
