Terrell Owens will have to wait at least another year before getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he has the support from one member of the newest class of inductees.
Kurt Warner said Wednesday that he believes what Owens accomplished on the field is worthy of a spot in Canton.
“I believe, A, he’s a Hall of Famer,” Warner told Mike Florio of PFT Live. “What he did between those lines you can’t argue. There’s nothing you can argue about, and I believe he will get in.”
The numbers are clearly there. Owens ranks second in the NFL all time in receiving yards with 15,934, third in touchdowns with 153 and eighth in receptions with 1,078. It’s the other stuff — mainly the stories about him being a bad teammate and a nuisance in the locker room — that have kept T.O. out. While Warner understands why those factors should be considered, he says his experiences with Owens have all been positive.
“The other part of it is when I’ve always thought of the Hall of Fame I think, yeah, great between the lines in regards to statistics and how you played your game but I also have always thought of it as a level of prestige,” Warner added. “That it’s about the way you represented the game and the impact that you had on the game as a whole and I’m speaking just based on here say because every time I’ve been around T.O. I loved the guy. He’s been great to me and I love his personality but I believe that’s the perception or reality that’s there is that the voters fully believe he belongs in due to his numbers and will get in.”
Warner acknowledges that the “prestige factor” has not necessarily been met by Owens, but it seems like many of the voters are focusing on that far too much. Plenty of the game’s legends have gone to bat for Owens, and it seems likely that he will eventually get in.
If he wants to help his cause, T.O. probably needs to refrain from going to war on Twitter with NFL writers and voters. He shouldn’t have to defend himself as much as he has, but he’s not going to get voters to flip their decisions by arguing with them.
