Behavior Guidelines for Dez Bryant in place ...

[WestCoastJoe]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/t-o-tweets ... --nfl.html

T.O. released by Seahawks
By TIM BOOTH (AP Sports Writer) | The Associated Press – 3 hours ago...

Terrell Owens' NFL return lasted less than three weeks.

Owens was released by the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, part of the league-mandated roster reductions from 90 to 75 players.

The 38-year-old receiver posted a message on his Twitter account shortly before 11 a.m. that he had been released and the Seahawks made the move official in the afternoon.

''I'm no longer a Seahawk,'' Owens tweeted. ''I THANK the organization 4 the opportunity, I'm truly blessed beyond belief. My FAITH is intact & will NOT waiver.''

Owens wasn't the only veteran to get cut by the Seahawks. Offensive linemen Deuce Lutui and Alex Barron both had their veteran contracts terminated, while Seattle waived/injured defensive back Roy Lewis (knee), tight end Cameron Morrah (toe), defensive tackle Pep Levingston (knee) and linebacker Jamison Konz (shoulder).

Owens signed a one-year deal with Seattle (No. 22 in APPro32) on Aug. 7, following a sterling workout that had coaches and Seahawks staff raving about how good he looked for having not played an NFL game in more than 18 months.

''We really liked the group that we assembled. Terrell came in here and busted his tail and he looked really effective right from the start,'' Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. ''But as we just took a look at our guys that are coming through the program and growing up with us we thought that it would be best for us to stay with those guys.''

Owens signed just before Seattle's first preseason game and made his debut in the second week against Denver. But his preseason performance was more notable for the passes he dropped than anything he caught.

Owens dropped a potential 46-yard touchdown against Denver on a purrfect throw from Matt Flynn. He failed to make a catch in any of his five targets against the Broncos and then had another glaring drop against Kansas City on Friday night.

He finished the preseason with just two receptions - a 40-yard catch from Russell Wilson where Owens had to slow down and lean back to haul in the pass and a 1-yard reception on a screen.

For as impressive as his long catch was in Seattle's 44-14 win over the Chiefs, it served as Owens' only highlight in a Seahawks uniform.

Owens was trying to make a comeback after not playing since Week 15 of the 2010 season while with Cincinnati. He sat out the entire 2011 season following surgery on his left knee and failed to receive any offers.

Owens got the rust off this spring playing for the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League. He had 35 catches for 420 yards and 10 touchdowns while playing eight of 11 games, but was released and lost an ownership stake in the team in May.

Owens, a third-round draft choice by San Francisco in 1996, has started 201 of the 219 regular-season NFL games he has played in his career. He has 1,078 receptions for 15,934 yards and 153 touchdowns - the second most in league history.

His nine seasons with at least 1,000 yards receiving and 13 years with at least 50 catches rank third. His total receptions are sixth on the NFL career list. Owens spent eight seasons with San Francisco, two with Philadelphia, and three with Dallas before a pair of one-year stints with Buffalo and Cincinnati.

''I've been rehabbing and working out for the past year since the injury and that's all I've ever wanted since I've been out is another opportunity,'' Owens said following his first practice on Aug. 8. ''That has been given to me by the Seattle Seahawks and again I am very grateful for that.''

Among Seattle's other cuts to reach the 75-man limit were wide receiver Phil Bates, running back Tyrell Sutton, cornerbacks Ron Parker and Donny Lisowski and offensive lineman Edawn Coughman

In the old days, of Adam Rita, in Toronto, he would have been there already. Personally I am glad those days are over.

I am not a fan of Terrell Owens, but I do worry a bit that once football is out of his life, his difficulty in dealing with life, as an "ordinary" person, without huge income, without fanfare, may lead him into bad places.

Is football over for him yet? Dunno ...

Thankfully, it seems it is over for Brett Favre.

And unfortunately Roger Clemens is getting his campaign for the Hall of Fame back on track by playing for a semi pro baseball team in Texas, as a fifty year old man. Personally, if he gets into the Hall, I will lose whatever respect I have left for that place.

If they build a Hall for athletes breaking records while using drugs, he can enter there, along with Lance Armstrong, and some other worthies.

[TheLionKing]

We haven't heard the last of Owens. Another team is going to take a flyer on TO

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports ... 65855.html

Jerry Jones goes for the talent, ignoring the problems that come with a self involved personality.

Cowboys have set of guidelines in place to hold WR Dez Bryant accountable

By: Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press

IRVING, Texas - Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Monday that the team has a set of guidelines in place for Dez Bryant to hold the talented young receiver accountable.

Garrett didn't go into specifics or describe potential discipline for not abiding by the rules. He said the Cowboys (No. 15 in AP Pro32) wants to support Bryant and his family.

"What we've tried to do is come up with a plan for Dez like we would for any player who we feel like needs our support, and help him be his best as a player and as a person," Garrett said. "And the accountability factor is an important part of that with him and with anybody on our football team."

According to numerous reports, Bryant will attend weekly counselling sessions, have a full-time security team and not be allowed to consume alcohol or attend strip clubs.

Bryant was arrested in July for allegedly assaulting his mother, who has since said she doesn't want authorities to pursue charges against him. The Dallas County district attorney's office has yet to make a decision about charges.

There have been other off-the-field issues as well, though Bryant was having a solid off-season until his arrest two weeks before the start of training camp. Bryant's adviser, David Wells, and the player's attorney, Royce West, didn't return messages to The Associated Press.

"We have some things in place and we are still in the process of working out the rest," Wells told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in a story published Monday. "We are all working together to accomplish some things to help him succeed."

Bryant hasn't been available to speak to reporters since the start of training camp because of his pending legal issues.

There is also still the chance of discipline from the NFL. Garrett said he didn't know the status of that.

"We're going to control what we can control as an organization, and Dez has done everything that we've asked him to do up to this point both on and off the football field," Garrett said. "Any decision about that is out of our control."

Bryant is going into his third season with the Cowboys, who got him with the 24th overall draft pick.

I recall his draft year. Teams would look at his talent, and pass, and the draft would go on, with commentators wondering when and who would take a chance on him. And it was the same for Randy Moss.

[Tighthead]

Sometimes you can't win. Jones was ridiculed for passing on Randy Moss.

As for Owens, he is beyond strange. I think he has serious mental health issues. I follow the Cowboys closely and I am certain that suicide attempt that he denied was in fact real. Owens had a very strange upbringing, and never really fit in with any crowd apparently.

[notahomer]

I was not sorry to hear 'the player' had not been able outshine the compeition of recievers trying to catch on with a job in the Emerald City. The Seahawks new QB (not Flynn ) looks awesome. Will be hard to figure out how the Hawks turn out this year...

Dez Bryant? Hard to figure out. Not so sure why 'guidelines' are needed. If you need to be told 'its okay to do this, not okay to do that'... you might have problems regardless of the guidelines.

Then there's 'the player's BFF, also known as Ochocinco also known as Chad Johnson etc.... Wonder what Parcells thinks of him? I'm betting he misses the season, perhaps even getting a wrist slap from Goodell and MAYBE he plays again next season. Where? Who knows but I'm sure it will be a place with a confident and experience vet QB. The last thing I'd want to expose a young draft pick QB (like a RG3 or Luck) would be a sideshow like any of these three.

One of the things I think the NFL has really moved well on is the rookie symposiums. Perhaps we'll be spared some of the missteps some of the current draftee players may have taken had they not been exposed to these symposiums. It sounds like, based on feedback from players like Luck for e.g., that these personal stories of players who messed up and wish they could turn back time, really impacted the rookies.

[TheLionKing]

Pretty sad that a professional team need to provide security to ensure a player does not get into trouble

[WestCoastJoe]

Sometimes you can't win. Jones was ridiculed for passing on Randy Moss.

As for Owens, he is beyond strange. I think he has serious mental health issues. I follow the Cowboys closely and I am certain that suicide attempt that he denied was in fact real. Owens had a very strange upbringing, and never really fit in with any crowd apparently.

I used to watch Parcell's press conferences after every practice.

For me they were so entertaining. Everything was so clear in his mind, and his contempt for most questions was barely concealed. But there was also a lot of humour in his cranky answers.

I am quite sure he was totally ticked off when Jones brought in "the player." That paved the way for Parcell's exit from the team. Jones seemed to think the rebuilding Parcells did was something that he himself could do. D'oh ....

Can't remember if Parcells was gone or still there when Jones bad mouthed him to reporters in a bar. D'oh ...

[Tighthead]

WCJ I know you are a Parcells fan, but he was no better than Jerry in Dallas. Drafted the likes of Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Fasano, and lobbied against the pick of De Marcus Ware.

He also kept Romo on the bench behind Bledsoe when it was clear to everyone that Romo was better. Parcells brought some good assistants to Dallas, but didn't do much to upgrade the talent level while he was there. Owens was actually good in his first seasons, but in the playoff game in Seattle Parcells couldn't scheme to get him open against a secondary that included a guy who was working in a bank two weeks before.

[WestCoastJoe]

WCJ I know you are a Parcells fan, but he was no better than Jerry in Dallas. Drafted the likes of Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Fasano, and lobbied against the pick of De Marcus Ware.

He also kept Romo on the bench behind Bledsoe when it was clear to everyone that Romo was better. Parcells brought some good assistants to Dallas, but didn't do much to upgrade the talent level while he was there. Owens was actually good in his first seasons, but in the playoff game in Seattle Parcells couldn't scheme to get him open against a secondary that included a guy who was working in a bank two weeks before.

Yes, or course. But I can defend Parcell's record as well. His drafts might not have been so good, but as he said they are in the talent acquistion business. He got some great mileage out of retreads, and got Dallas into the playoffs after being out for years.

He eventually started Romo with good success, which hasn't really blossomed since he left.

No matter though. All grist for the discussion mill.

[notahomer]

Saw a list of Bryant's 'guidelines' posted on NFL network. I think he's paying for some of the costs of doing this. I have no doubt the team is footing some of the bill but I think its good he's chipping in too.

Many of the so-called troublesome players (Pacman Jones, for eg) have said, they wish rookie symposiums had been around when they broke into the league. I doubt it will matter. Goofups and bonehead moves will still occur, regardless. But if it saves one player from , I think it's served its purpose....