Owens a clown in the wrong business

Todd R. Hansen/Appeal-Democrat

I remember the first time I ever attended a circus.

It was just a small traveling affair, but it had the requisite trapeze act, a couple of elephants, cotton candy, and of course, clowns - lots of clowns.

There were happy clowns and sad clowns; clowns who made animals out of balloons; some who juggled; and some who just fell down a lot. I loved them all.

That was a long time ago, and there have been a number of circuses since, but I still love the clowns.

They just need to stay with the circus.

And there lies the problem with Terrell Owens. He just doesn't know his place.

With his talent to run and catch passes, I always thought his place was on the field. If you ask Owens, I presume he would agree.

Exactly which field is the right place has always been a more difficult question for Owens to answer.

But it's getting easier - by attrition if nothing else.

San Francisco no longer has a place for Owens. I doubt there is one in Baltimore.

Owens said Philadelphia was the place for him to play - oddly enough because Donovan McNabb was the quaterback there and the Eagles gave him a five-year deal - but that field is off-limits for another three weeks at the very least, and probably for much longer than that.

Kansas City, Dallas, New York Giants, Tampa Bay, Seattle, San Diego and most certainly Detroit are not likely to offer Owens a place to play, at least not with the current coaches running those teams.

I can't imagine Pittsburg, New England or Indianapolis wanting to take a chance of destroying their very neat places just to gain Owens' talents, either.

Mike Martz has the ego to take on Owens, but the Rams already have some pretty good receivers and, well, there is no certainty Martz will be back in St. Louis anyway. And I'm pretty sure a coach with heart issues should avoid Owens.

There is always Oakland, where Al Davis doesn't care what his coaches think anyway. But the Raiders have Porter and Moss and there may not be enough room in that place.

Quite frankly, the number of places available to Owens is dwindling.

Funny thing is, as that market shrinks, and the competition for his talents lessens, so do the chances he will ever get that big-time contract he wants.

I guess there is always the circus.