CINCINNATI — A year after they were featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks, the Cincinnati Bengals have scripted their own reality show.
T.O. and Ocho. Two selfconscious stars, one NFL team.
How will they fit? How will it work? Which receiver will provide most of the drama?
And, more important, will any of it help the Bengals get back to the playoffs?
The Bengals reached a contract agreement with receiver Terrell Owens on Tuesday, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. He’s expected to report to training camp in a day or two.
The Bengals were his first choice, giving him a chance to team with close friend Chad Ochocinco, who has already dubbed the pair Batman and Robin. The Bengals made an offer Monday, and Owens accepted a day later.
Players are required to report for the start of training camp today in Georgetown, Ky. Owens is expected to show up when workouts begin Thursday, according to the person speaking on condition of anonymity because the team had made no announcement.
On his Twitter account, all Owens would say was, “Hoping 2 b a Bengal w/in the 24hrs!!” He’s expected to sign his deal with he arrives in Georgetown.
Ochocinco gushed about the matchup on his Twitter feed, welcoming Owens and joking that “all of our games have been moved to pay-per view, you got to pay to see this.”
Both of the look-at-me receivers are accustomed to cable.
By adding the 36-year-old Owens, the Bengals will lead the NFL in reality show stars.Ochocinco competed on Dancing With the Stars in the offseason and has a dating show called Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch currently running on VH1. After Ochocinco’s show comes “The T.O. Show.” COWBOYS
Bryant didn’t expect issue
SAN ANTONIO - Dez Bryant insists he was unaware of the rookie ritual of carrying a veteran’s shoulder pads after practice. The Dallas Cowboys’ first-round pick would have done more than that had he known his refusal to accommodate Roy Williams’ request would become such a big issue.
“I told Roy this ... he could have walked in with his tights on,” Bryant said after the first of Dallas’ two practices Tuesday. “I would have took his shoulder pads, his pants, his helmet, his socks, his shoes. I would have took everything. But you know what, that’s not even an issue.”
Bryant, the talented receiver who slipped to 24th overall in the draft because of questions about his character and talk of him skipping meetings and classes atOklahoma State, said he is trying to do all the right things with the Cowboys at training camp.
“But it seems like I can’t do the right thing because every little thing that I do, [reporters] watch it and try to make a big deal out of it,” Bryant said.
Plenty of drama and headlines ensued when Bryant didn’t carry Williams’ pads after the first workout in pads Sunday, then he said he was drafted to play football not to take care of someone else’s gear. He jogged off the field without commenting Monday after the story had spread so quickly and widely.
Bryant was clearly frustrated Tuesday as he answered repeated questions about the situation and his relationship with Williams, all while signingautographs for fans chanting their support for the rookie wearing No. 88.
“We are fine. Matter of fact, it is not even a situation,” Bryant said. “Me and Roy are great. Not only Roy, but the whole team. ... Everybody on the team likes me and I like everybody on the team. [Reporters] are trying to put me and Roy against each other. That’s not going to happen. We’re trying to do something real special here.”
Bryant is expected to challenge for the starting spot opposite Pro Bowl receiver Miles Austin on a team with Super Bowl expectations. Williams has repeatedly said that everything is good between all the receivers.
“Every team I’ve been on, and all the different guys that have been in our groups, the receivers have always been a tight-knit group. That’s what we are right now,” Williams said. “It’s not me vs. Dez, or me vs. Miles or Miles vs. Dez. When it comes down to it against Washington [in the season opener], it’s going to be us vs. them.” RAMS
Bradford not signed
ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Rams are optimistic they’ll sign No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford soon, perhaps by Thursday when quarterbacks and rookies are due for their first training camp workout.
Whenever Bradford arrives, he won’t be throwing to Terrell Owens. The franchise is thin at wide receiver, but Coach Steve Spagnuolo said Tuesday that the team has decided against signing Owens.
“We took everything into play and we came up with a decision, and I really want to talk about the 2010 Rams,” Spagnuolo said.
The coach declined the say how serious the Rams were in contract talks with the volatile wide receiver.
“I’m not going to put it in a category,” Spagnuolo said. “We sat down, talked about it. We went about it the right way, and the decision was made.”
Spagnuolo said talks are proceeding with Bradford and he was hopeful a deal would be reached soon.
REDSKINS
McNabb an old Eagle
MARLTON, N.J. - Donovan McNabb has one foot planted in the nation’s capital and the other firmly in the City of Brotherly Love.
He is a Redskin now, but part of him will always be an Eagle.
On a hot June day, McNabb conducted a clinic for children on a community field in the New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia.
“It’s what he’s left,” said his mother, Wilma McNabb, “and what he’s going to.”
McNabb is a complex man dealing with an emotional upheaval.
He’llbe in a burgundy and gold uniform when the Redskins open camp this week.
“The whole situation,” McNabb said, “for one [looking] from the outside, is kind of complicated.”
After 11 years of praise and vilification in Philadelphia, McNabb was traded Easter Sunday to the Redskins, a division rival just a short train ride away. One of the league’s most popular and perhaps misunderstood quarterbacks is starting anew.
“It’s hard to forget,” he said. “But you know what? It’s better that there was success, and it’s hard to forget than it just really being bad and you’re just trying to get to get rid of it. I had a lot of fun here in Philadelphia. I met a lot of good people, built a lot of friendships. Kids have been named after me, dogs have been named after me, and people have come up to me and said they really do appreciate what I did.”
Sports, Pages 26 on 07/28/2010