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Owens follows a long line of misguided players

"There will be some teams that open the door, but not open the vault."

Jimmy Johnson, former coach of the Dallas Cowboy on the prospects for Terrell Owens in the NFL

Star receiver Terrell Owens, suspended this week for mouthing off against his team and employer, is only the latest and loudest in the history of NFL problem players.

Before him, there was Charles Haley, a pass-rushing defensive end. He was good enough to win five Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, but troublesome enough to get himself dealt at the peak of his career after alienating coaches and teammates.

And before Haley, there were others, most of whom ended up with the Raiders, where owner Al Davis told them in essence that he didn't care what they did off the field as long as they went out on Sunday and did their best to beat up on opponents.

"There used to be fistfights in the parking lot," recalls Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association and a Hall of Fame guard with the Raiders from 1967-1981. "Then everyone would come back the next day and practice and play as a team.''

There have been other recent squabbles, although nothing like the frenzy caused by Owens in Philadelphia.

Remember there is now a verb that will be applied to Owens when his suspension ends: "Keyshawned," for what Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden did with receiver Keyshawn Johnson, making him inactive for the 2003 season's last six games because of his quarrels with the coaching staff. Johnson, now in Dallas, posted a sign on his locker this week: "NOT MY PROBLEM," to avoid questions about Owens in a week the Cowboys go to Philadelphia.

That's the thing about talented but troubled players: One team's nightmare is another team's ticket to the Super Bowl. That's why Owens will find a home next season, assuming the Philadelphia Eagles eventually release him. He has talent that will tempt some coach who thinks he's one super wide receiver away from getting over the top.

The closest example to Owens may be Haley, who outlasted his welcome after two Super Bowl victories in San Francisco with a number of acts that coach George Seifert found intolerable, the last of which was defacing a teammate's new car.

Dallas was glad to have him -- like Owens, he never took a play off.

"When we were making the deal for Charles, I did a lot of homework on it," says Jimmy Johnson, then Dallas' coach. "He was competitive, intelligent and I felt I could work with him. And I did. When there was trouble, I'd sit down with him and talk it out and we never really had any trouble."

That trade was in the summer of 1992. Haley helped Johnson and the Dallas Cowboys win Super Bowls that season and the next and, for the most part, behaved well. But Johnson was unique; when Barry Switzer succeeded Johnson in 1994., Haley became a problem again, even after wins.

In 1995, after a victory over Green Bay, Haley got upset because he had been held out of the game's first defensive series.

"I have no love lost for none of them -- trust me," Haley said of the coaching staff. "The defensive coaches don't have any faith in me. If they want me to be a second-team player, I'm going to play it this year, but I'm not going to do it any more."

The Cowboys won the title again that year and Haley played another season until injuries forced him to retire. He resurfaced briefly as an assistant coach with Detroit, hired by his former San Francisco teammate, Matt Millen, the Lions' president.

Owens is unlikely to become a coach at any time. But he will play again.

The Eagles, after all, knew the baggage he brought from San Francisco. For one year, they got what they bargained for. For 14 games last season, he was one of the NFL's most valuable players and, coming off serious leg injuries, he had a super Super Bowl with nine catches for 122 yards as the Eagles lost 24-21 to New England.

Then came the inevitable crash.

Johnson, for one, thinks it might have been because of the Super Bowl. Owens played well, quarterback Donovan McNabb did not and that brought out whatever is inside Owens that makes him look for someone to blame, usually the QB.

So he hired Drew Rosenhaus as his agent, Rosenhaus began demanding a new contract, and everything began to fall apart, including his relationship with coaches and teammates. Most important of those was with McNabb.

"It kind of made him think he was Superman," Johnson says of Owens' Super Bowl performance. "It gave him and Drew an argument. If he hadn't played in the Super Bowl, we wouldn't have had this problem."

That's why someone else will take a gamble.

"There will be some teams that open the door," Johnson says, "but not open the vault."

Game Day

Joe Vitt faces the biggest game of his interim coaching career today, big enough that he might eventually get the "interim" dropped if he and the St. Louis Rams win in Seattle Today.

Since Vitt took over when Mike Martz stepped down with an infection near his heart, the Rams are 2-1, winning their last two to improve their record to 4-4. If they can beat the Seahawks, they would pull within a game of Seattle in an NFC West division where the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers are non-factors.

Pluses for St. Louis: Quarterback Marc Bulger and star wide receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce will return from injury, having healed during the team's bye week.

The Seahawks have won four straight and six of seven as they continue on a path that would break an annual pattern of hanging around the .500 mark.

Their incentive for this game is simple: A win just about clinches their division because they would have a three-game lead plus a tiebreaker with two wins over the Rams. A victory also puts Seattle on track for home-field advantage in the playoffs. They are tied at 6-2 for the NFC's best record with Atlanta, Carolina and the New York Giants and there are only three potentially tough games left.

In the only game of the week between winning teams, Washington (5-3) travels to Tampa Bay (5-3) with both needing victories to stay close in tough divisions.

Washington won last week at home against Philadelphia to stay in the middle of the NFC East race. The Buccaneers have lost three of four games, the last two with turnover-prone Chris Simms at quarterback. Coach Jon Gruden has defended Simms, blaming his problems more on the offensive line than on his inexperience.

The Dallas Cowboys are at the Philadelphia Eagles tomorrow.
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