NASHVILLE – As the final seconds ticked off the clock Sunday, Terrell Owens bent down and untied his shoes.
Owens had to make good on a side bet he and Tennessee cornerback Pacman Jones made Saturday night.
"I kept him out of the end zone, so he gave me his shoes," Jones said. "That was the deal. It came down [Saturday]. We talked on the phone."
So a shoeless Owens walked to the locker room as a number of Cowboys fans chanted, "T.O., T.O., T.O." just like they did before he handed Jones his shoes, capping a week that went from normal to surreal to expected.
The normal was Owens' continuing recovery of his surgically repaired right hand. The surreal was the rush to the Baylor Medical Center emergency room for an accidental overdose on painkillers. The expected was the five-catch, 88-yard performance Owens had in the Cowboys' 45-14 victory against the Titans.
"Dude, I've been through this time and time again," Owens said. "I feel blessed and thank God for giving me another opportunity to come out here and play football on Sunday. Regardless of all the critics and everybody speculating, it doesn't bother me. On the inside of my house, I vent to my people. I have people to talk to. Once I step on the football field, it is all football."
After practicing Thursday and Friday, Owens made the trip to Nashville on Saturday and found himself in the starting lineup Sunday. He made his first catch – good for 7 yards – on the Cowboys' second drive, giving him a reception in 139 straight games.
The only sacrifice Owens made for his right hand was a hard-shell pad he wore inside his glove. Like he did in the first two games, Owens lined up on either side of the field and in the slot.
"We didn't do anything that wasn't normal," coach Bill Parcells said. "We just call the formations and he goes."
Said quarterback Drew Bledsoe, "Considering the guy was playing with a broken hand, I thought he played well."
He played so well that Jones almost had to go without the shoes.
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| ERICH SCHLEGEL / DMN Terrell Owens (right) bobbles a pass in the end zone as Tennessee's Pacman Jones (32) defends. |
At the Tennessee 7 with two minutes left in the first half, Bledsoe's pass to Owens, who had beaten Jones inside, was a little too leading, and as Owens came to the ground, the tip of the football appeared to hit the ground.
For an instant, however, Owens thought he had scored and bounced up and down while sitting on the ground. After a delay, the officials ruled an incomplete pass, which was not reviewed by the replay officials, much to Owens' displeasure.
He would not get closer to the end zone again.
"I know Pacman," Owens said. "He is a great guy. He asked me for my shoes, and I gave it to him. ... He is going to have to put some tissues in those shoes. Those are some big shoes to fill."
E-mail tarcher@dallasnews.com
