Everyone in the sports world has had their say on Terrell Owens. There would seem to be precious little new to add.
Clearly, most elite athletes, professional or amateur, need a healthy dose of self-confidence, even when they play a “team” sport.
A touch of arrogance is rarely applauded, but is generally accepted by most fans and observers, if it goes hand-in-hand with achievement and excellence.
In recent years it is not uncommon in football, for example, to see a player beat his chest and point to the skies triumphantly after a fairly routine defensive play, something that would never have happened in the days of Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr.
Fair enough. Times change, and players are uninhibited in many ways, including in the way in which they express themselves publicly.
A player such as Owens has simply taken all this to the extreme, as he has continued to criticize teammates publicly and promote himself unnecessarily.
In short, he is the opposite, it would seem, of the consummate team player.
This makes the recent success (perhaps short-term in nature) of Edmonton Eskimo quarterback Jason Maas all the more refreshing. Maas is a modern-day Frank Reich, the Buffalo Bills super-sub back up who would lead team, usually very successfully, when Jim Kelly was hurt or slumping. Reich was a classy individual, who accepted his low-profile status on a high-profile team without rancor.
For his part, Mass was an excellent signal-caller for the Eskimos, before Ricky Ray returned from a short stint in the NFL to reclaim his old job.
Maas bided his time, as Ray first played well, then struggled down the stretch in the 2005 season. Maas said nothing to create a disruption.
When Ray was under-performing during the semi-final game against Calgary, Maas stepped in and performed admirably.
Afterwards, he was gracious in victory, and refused to second-guess his coach.
Would Maas like to be the number 1 guy? Of course. Competitive athletes want to play.
But those who understand team sports know it is vitally important to try hard to set certain feelings — as natural as they are — aside, and work to keep the interests of the team first.
As salaries in professional sports have grown out of all proportion in the last twenty-five years, perspective has often been lost.
Who would have thought the golfing world would provide us with some of that lost perspective? It’s often been suggested that golfers are interested in talking about golf, and not much else. That’s a generalization, to be sure. No doubt many golfers have a range of interests, and a social conscience, too.But it is often difficult for some individuals who have achieved success in sport to keep things in perspective.
When Tiger Woods found headlines for slamming his clubs in frustration during an event in Shanghai in November of 2005, a fellow golfer, 23-year old Nick Dougherty, spoke publicly about perspective. “What I’ve learned to appreciate is that lots of people who tune into golf at the end of the day in the office would give anything to be playing in this event, with Tiger Woods in the field. Professional sportsmen can often forget how fortunate they are…”
An interesting — and revealing — comment from a young man who has evidently maintained a sense of balance, despite his having attained professional “success” at such a young age.
Many fellow athletes would do well to reflect on his comments.
