Terrell Owens felt ‘disrespected’ being left out of Hall of Fame

Terrell Owens has made it clear over the past few weeks that he was extremely disappointed not to get elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. Now he says he felt “disrespected” by being left out.

Owens was a headline guest at Sportsradio KTCK’s “Ticketstock” over the weekend and talked about not making it into the Hall. He says he felt disrespected by it.

“I felt more so disrespected. I think you guys know, my stats speak for themselves,” Owens said via the Dallas Morning News. “I think everyone realizes that there is a flaw in the system. I didn’t really have to say a whole lot. Around the country, two weeks after the Super Bowl and this whole induction thing, people are still talking about it. Obviously there is something that needs to be changed about it. I never really played the game to get in the Hall of Fame, anyways. I’m used to it. I probably would have been more surprised if I had made it. It’s a shame for some pencil-pushers to vote guys in, considering the body of work they’ve done and put out on the football field. What I’ve done throughout my career speaks volumes.”

You can just feel Owens’ anger just based on his choice of words. Calling journalists “pencil-pushers” is the exact sort of language that will give writers even more reasons to keep him out, fairly or unfairly.

Owens also noted that some voters are keeping him out because of character issues and how he influenced his teams. He even referenced a debate he had with ESPN’s Skip Bayless (watch that here) where Bayless cited conversations he had with players and people in the locker room in determining that Owens was a less than ideal teammate.

The bottom line is T.O. just isn’t doing himself any favors with comments like “pencil-pushers” and is actually hurting his case. If he just kept quiet, he’d have a better chance of getting in quicker, but he can’t help himself.