Eighteen years have apparently allowed for hearts to grow fonder in the case of two legendary Philadelphia Eagles legends. Terrell Owens and Hugh Douglas are once again on speaking terms following a locker-room fight from an ill-fated 2005 season that saw Owens get suspended indefinitely and, eventually, released.
Terrell Owens had been angling for a new contract at the time while throwing very public barbs at Donovan McNabb in the press. He was on a short leash. Things came to a head that year when the mercurial receiver sat out a November practice — Terrell Owens claimed he was “getting treatment” for an injury — and didn’t back down when Douglas criticized him in the training room.
Terrell Owens, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, rehashed the story in full detail during an appearance on Fubo Sports’ Getcha Popcorn Ready with T.O. and Hatch. The five-minute video clip is pure gold as Owens expresses how Douglas blindsided him. He had no choice but to “stand up for himself,” something he learned early in life from his grandmother.
Here is how Terrell Owens explained the altercation from 2005, sitting alongside former Eagles star Darren Sproles in the studio:
“I was in the HydroWorx pool, it’s closed in, but you can see from the main training room, you can see through the glass. You can see who’s in there. So I’m in there and the door was cracked or whatever, so I’m in there getting treatment on the treadmill and I heard him, he was kind of, being Hugh. He was like, some people are in here acting hurt, they don’t want to practice, something along those lines, so I knew he was referring to me and I was like what? Me? Out of all people, why would I be trying to skip practice?”
“Tensions were high at that time, so I got up out of there. And we had a little bit of a confrontation, an encounter, and it wasn’t really any contact or blows thrown. I made my presence known. He made his presence known. Jeremiah Trotter can probably do a better job telling this story than I can. He got in between us so I wasn’t afraid of him [Douglas] at this point. Bro, I get who you are. I see how big you are but that didn’t deter me. At this point, I’m like you’re not going to disrespect me because I already knew where the energy was coming from. Donovan and me, we weren’t really getting along at the time, this that and the other.”
Okay, let’s rewind the tape for a second. Terrell Owens was listed at 6-foot-3 and 224 pounds versus Hugh Douglas at 6-foot-2 and 281 pounds. So, yes, the All-Pro receiver was giving up nearly 60 pounds to a player who literally got paid to destroy quarterbacks. He was significantly overmatched, although it could be argued that no one was stronger than Terrell Owens in his prime. He was a physical specimen then and looks to be close to his playing shape even today.
Terrell Owens vs Donovan McNabb
The Owens-McNabb feud has been well-documented. One of the most feared quarterback-receiver tandems in the league — and, quite arguably, in NFL history — turned sour fast for many reasons, namely dumb jealousy and a lack of communication. They hated each other. And still do.
Anyway, with that background refresher, back to Terrell Owens’ retelling of the tale:
“So I don’t know what sparked him [Douglas] coming in and saying what he said. We went at it. I went through Trotter to get at him. That’s how mad I was. And Trotter, he couldn’t handle me, he said, dude I knew you were strong just by looking at you but he said, T, I did not know you were that strong. I literally went through him and he was sliding, just to get at Hugh.”
Someone needs to get Trotter on the horn for his take on the fight. Seriously. In the meantime, the air has finally been cleared on the matter at least from Owens’ side. He went on to say that there are no lingering hard feelings between them. It’s all good.
“Me and Hugh, we cool now, we’ve talked about,” Owens told Fubo Sports. “We’ve kind of moved on or what have you. I laugh about it. I’m not going to let my size deter me from doing what I need to do.”
Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
