Jumping the Shark with Terrell Owens and Ted McGinley

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Terrell Owens gets a really bad rap. Yes, I understand he’s a primadonna of the highest order and perhaps one of the most egotistical athletes of all time. In fact, TO’s neither straight or gay beacuse he loves himself so damn much. He’s the first narcis-sexual. But he also keeps himself in immaculate shape and plays as hard as possible every Sunday. His production has always been among the highest of his wide receiver peers in the NFL. For crying out loud, Owens played incredibly well (9 rec for 122 yards) in a Super Bowl on a broken leg. If Brett Favre, who is equally self-centered, even attempted to play with that injury in a Super Bowl, ESPN would sponsor a bill to divert Stimulus Package funds to erect a monument made entirely of the nation’s gold reserves in his honor on the field during the 1st Quarter to be appreciated by future generations who will worship him as the god of toughness, intangibles and “just having fun out there”. Even TO’s off the field “trouble” is more like a soap opera overblown by the media than anything remotely criminal. He complains about a co-worker, his boss, and would like more opportunity for advancement… who does he think he is? He’s nothing like us!

I will freely admit Owens sabotaged the locker room in San Francisco by making remarks about Jeff Garcia that speculated about his sexuality. This was immature, mean spirited and deserving of scorn. However this led to a reputation as a cancer and perpetual locker room segregator that follows TO to this day, despite tenuous-at-best evidence during his stops in Philly and Dallas. People point to the decline of team chemistry with improvement after his departure, but there is a simple explanation. Terrell Owens is the football equivalent of Ted McGinley.

In the 80’s, 90’s and even early aught’s, Ted McGinley appeared on several TV shows that were canceled shortly thereafter. This led to him becoming the Patron Saint of now defunct, pop-culture landmark website Jump the Shark. The argument being that when the handsome McGinley showed up, your show had officially jumped the shark and would be axed like Scatman Crouthers. But the fair haired actor wasn’t the cause of cancellation, only a symptom of a network frantically trying to repair an already broken or declining show with an attractive, proven product. Sound familiar? The teams that have traded for TO are all flawed contenders looking for a boost from the productive wide receiver to put them over the top. When teams decide the experiment has “failed” or the negative media coverage overwhelms the franchise, they have an easy scapegoat in Owens.

Even their careers stack up well:

McGinley: Happy Days/ TO: San Francisco

A once proud titan feverishly attempting to reclaim the glory days of yore. Happy Days was already on the slow train to cancellation before ol’ Ted showed up as Roger, just like the fading 49ers dynasty was well on its way to mediocrity TO became the #1 receiver and resident malcontent. Did either man help? No, but they can’t be blamed for the natural decline of a decorated franchise.

McGinley: Married With Children/ TO: Philadelphia

The most successful stop for both men as they both caught their respective franchises during a high point and were able to maintain that momentum for a short amount of time. However, both TO and McGinley were around for the ugly ending that befell both the Eagles and Married With Children after reaching their full potential.

McGinley: Sports Night/ TO: Dallas

Added to promising casts, both Owens and McGinley seemed to finally find a place where they could help build something great. But for inexplicable reasons, both Sports Night and the Cowboys collapsed underneath the weight of their own expectations… perhaps by their overbearing bosses, Aaron Sorkin and Jerry Jones.

McGinley: Hope & Faith/ TO: Buffalo

Hope & Faith was never poised to be a world-beating giant. Just a simple comedy that would hang around for an appropriate period of time and generate solid ratings. The same could be said of TO’s current location, the Buffalo Bills. Nobody expects the Bills to win the Super Bowl, or even make the playoffs, but they’ll be a solid team that has already managed to overachieve in their first game. However, the media (ESPN specifically) has created a non-story this week that only further undermines Owens’ career. Will TO be able to settle in for a respectable finish to a great career, or will he be relegated to a career of “guest work” like McGinley?