With plenty of negative buzz in league circles regarding the behavior of Terrell Owens in his past NFL stops, T.O.'s new coach has opted for positive reinforcement.
For now.
Yes, the socially media savvy Pete Carroll took to Twitter to welcome Terrell Owens to town.
After, of course, Terrell Owens initiated their conversation on Twitter.
@terrellowens welcome to the land of the #12thMan Terrell, see you in the morning... 8am meetings!!
— Pete Carroll (@PeteCarroll) August 7, 2012
If a team is going to do business with Owens, it makes sense to do everything possible to make sure they get Terrell and not T.O. But while Carroll is being very positive publicly (is he ever not?) with Terrell, there needs to be a bad cop in the organization who will tell Owens that he’s down to his last chance in the NFL, and that any type of griping or brooding or passive-aggressive pitting of teammates against each other will get Owens run out of town.
Here’s how it typically goes. Owens shows up and works really hard and impresses the young players on the team, who already were in awe of him. This gives him following in the locker room. And then, when there’s an issue or problem that arises and T.O. makes his views on the situation known to his in-house flock, a rift necessarily arises.
Look for Owens to behave, at least until he makes the 53-man roster. Even then, he’ll likely remain Terrell -- until he scores two or three touchdowns in a game and reverts back to being T.O.