Terrell Owens played for many quarterbacks in his prolific Hall of Fame career as an NFL wide receiver, ranging from Steve Young to Tony Romo. But he still seems bitter about not getting to play with the GOAT QB — Tom Brady — in Owens' 15-year career.
Owens played for the 49ers, Eagles, Cowboys, Bills and Bengals, but tried to add another team to that list in 2021. In his recent interview on "The Bubba Dub Show", T.O. said he tried to return with the Buccaneers to play with Brady.
That didn't work out. Despite the fact Owens was 48 years old in 2021 and a whole 11 years removed from last playing in the NFL in Cincinnati, he felt slighted that Brady didn't recruit him to Tampa Bay after it parted ways with Antonio Brown.
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Terrell Owens-Tom Brady beef, explained
Instead of his advanced age being a factor, Owens blamed Brady's "arrogance" as the reason the move didn't come together.
"Tom Brady ignored me," Owens said. "I didn't need to play a full season, and they just needed somebody to fill some holes with AB (Brown) leaving at the receiver position. I reached out to him through Randy and some other people, just to come in and play third down and red zone situations."
"You know this dude really ignored me. It just shows you the lack of respect there, but then when they get in front of you they want to act like they respect you."
The 'Randy' to which Owens referred is Randy Moss, Owens' Hall of Fame contemporary wide receiver who did get to play with Brady on the Patriots in between stints with the Vikings, Raiders, 49ers and Titans.
As a 30-year-old in his prime in 2007, Moss posted 98 catches for 1,493 yards. He also scored a record 23 receiving touchdowns for what was then the highest-scoring single-season offense in NFL history. That was the only season in which Brady threw for 50 touchdowns.
Moss finished his career with 156 receiving TDs, with big help from that record season. That's second all-time to only Jerry Rice's 197. Owens ended up just behind Moss with 153 receiving TDs.
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Terrell Owens age played role in Tom Brady snub
Moss got a chance to spike his stats big-time with Brady at one point his career, while Owens did not. Owens missed that opportunity despite bouncing around after his initial 49ers success. It never lined up for him to play in New England, and by the time Brady got to Tampa Bay, Owens was 48, and already a decade out of the league.
Also, keep in mind Moss didn't last long with Brady's Patriots and Brown had two rough-ending stints with Brady on both of the latter's teams. Beyond being 48, swapping a mercurial aging AB with a mercurial aged T.O. would have been a shaky proposition.
Moss is considered to be the better all-around receiver than Owens, and playing with Brady probably helped his case. Owens' anger over being snubbed isn't solely about Brady, the wide receiver is still upset Moss got to play with the GOAT and he didn't.
