Catch This!: Going Deep with the NFL's Sharpest Weapon
by Terrell Owens, Stephen Singular
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen Singular, Terrell OwensEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-09-28
ISBN: 0743249704
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of Catch This!: Going Deep with the NFL's Sharpest Weapon
Book Review: "The NFL can't deal with me"---T.O.
Summary: 5 Stars
Anyone who thinks Terrell Owens is a typical spoiled, arrogant wide receiver cut from the same cloth as Randy Moss and Keyshawn Johnson needs to read this book. Reading his autobiography has given me a whole new perspective on one of the most controversial figures in the NFL. In Catch This!, Owens reveals himself as a god-fearing, hard-working man, tremendously loyal to his family, faith, and friends, and appreciative of what he has received on his quest to be a champion. Owens describes his strict upbringing in a financially strained family whose mother and grandmother found a way to get by working long hours at a factory in Alabama. Once Owens became focused on football, his tireless workout schedule (no steroids here!) in high school, the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, and in the pros made him into the physical specimen that would dominate NFL defenses and headlines. Much of what he has gone through physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually during his rise to the top is detailed in this book.
T.O. spares no punches when he tackles the main controversies of his career up to when he joined the Philadelphia Eagles. The Dallas star, the Sharpie, the Greg Knapp blow-up, his relationship with Steve Mariucci and Jeff Garcia, and the contract mess preceding his trade to Philly are all told here in what appears to be frank honesty. When ESPN covered Owens' negotiations between the SF 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, and Philadelphia Eagles, I thought at the time that T.O.'s agent must be incompetent to miss the deadline to void his client's contract. This book changed my mind. T.O. also clearly states his problems with Ozzie Newsome: "The next-to-last thing I wanted to do was holdout. The last thing I wanted to do was play for Ozzie Newsome" (p. 262). He also presents an interesting inside look at the 49ers organization and former teammates like Steve Young and his idol Jerry Rice (in fact, T.O. reveals a disagreement he has with some words of advice J.R. gave him, pg. 95).
The only thing that bugs me about this book, and many T.O. interviews I've seen, is how Owens always tries to paint himself as the victim. He seems to come off as if he thinks he's the only one who gets hassled by the "No Fun League" and the media for his celebrations, and free attitude (I think New Orleans' Joe Horn received more negative press than he did after the cell phone incident). Owens' complaints about team meetings, studying film, and NFL fines for uniform violations may cause some readers to roll their eyes. T.O. does do an excellent job describing the difference in attitudes towards players between the NBA and the NFL (p. 5). He also gives exciting descriptions of the most pivotal games that help the reader relive some of the action of a few years ago.
Anyone intrigued by Terrell Owens (positively or negatively) needs to read this book, especially 49er fans interested in his relationship with coach Mariucci, which is referred to here a lot. The rift, which began during his 1999 contract negotiations and met its nadir during the 2001 season when T.O. and "Mooch" communicated through assistant coach George Stewart, must have really left a mark on T.O., as he even mentions the relationship in a statement to a Senate subcommittee advocating increased funding for Alzheimer's research (Owens' grandmother has the disease) (p. 268). I ran across a photo of a mask Mariucci decorated for a charity event while searching the Internet, and he designed it with the three themes T.O. subscribes to: faith, family, and football (Mariucci added a fourth "F," fettucine), so maybe they had more in common than they thought. Beneath all the controversial issues, though, Catch This! sets the record straight and reveals Terrell Owens as not just a great football player but as an upstanding human being.
Summary of Catch This!: Going Deep with the NFL's Sharpest Weapon
In a sport full of players who are larger than life, Terrell Owens towers above the crowd.
It isn't just that he holds the NFL record for catches in a single game (twenty) or that he's the most feared wide receiver in the game. It's also his penchant for unique self-expression -- spiking the ball on the midfield Texas lone star in front of a hostile Dallas Cowboy crowd, pulling a Sharpie from his sock to sign a game ball after a touchdown, and dancing with a cheerleader's pom-poms after another TD. Never politically correct and always controversial and colorful on and off the field, Terrell Owens has transformed himself into "TO," the outrageous gridiron personality who has rocked the entire NFL and the sports landscape. But Owens is more than touchdowns, dancing, and celebrations. In this wickedly insightful book, he's full of sharp-eyed observations on the contentious, demanding, insane phenomenon that is pro football.
In Catch This! Owens takes readers back to his hardscrabble childhood in rural Alabama, where he was raised by a stern grandmother and loving mother. By the time he won an athletic scholarship for football at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, the once small, bullied boy had transformed himself into a very large man with a super body and an iron will to succeed. He takes us behind his apprenticeship to -- and eventual eclipsing of -- the legendary 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice. He pulls no punches when it comes to his extremely public fight with San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci -- a relationship so sour that they didn't speak at all during the crucial final weeks of the 2001 season. And, finally, he lets loose on the free agent scandal that shook the NFL in 2004 -- and reveals the truth behind the NFL's attempt to deny him free agency, his fraudulent trade to the Baltimore Ravens, and his ultimate happy landing with the Philadelphia Eagles.
For those who think they know both Terrell Owens and TO, catch this story.
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