Terrell Owens says he wasn't trying to make headlines on Sunday and that his brief responses were an attempt to shed the spotlight.
That's according to an interview with Owens on Sporting News Radio on Monday.
In the news conference, some reporters appeared to be goading Owens into making a controversial statement, but the usually loquacious wideout didn't take the bait.
"It really just shows you the angle that the media has taken all these years," Owens said in the interview, according to The Buffalo News. "Over the years, I've always spoken openly about whatever is being asked with my answers. So the last four or five years, I've kind of noticed that and tried taking some steps to prevent some of those things from happening. But [Sunday] as you saw, it was obviously … [the media] took some more than initiative to try to get me to go down the wrong path."
Owens' point was fair, but his next one wasn't.
"I know the last two teams that I've been on [Philadelphia and Dallas], I felt like I left those teams prematurely due to media interviews that I've done and things taken out of context, and they created sort of a media whirlwind in the locker room and things kind of went downhill from there. I'm just trying to do the best job I can do as far as answering the questions and trying to be a better teammate and not try to throw people under the bus."
In T.O.'s first year in Philadelphia, he posted monster numbers despite missing the final two games of the season. After his gutsy performance in Super Bowl XXXIX, he wanted to be paid like the superstar he was. He then openly questioned his quarterback before holding the most bizarre driveway workout/news conference in the history of sports.
Once in Dallas, he failed to get along with Bill Parcells then later accused quarterback Tony Romo of having some sort of secret practice with tight end Jason Witten.
And though he didn't throw his new quarterback Trent Edwards "under the bus" when talking with the media, he didn't hold back from writing "didn't get a ball 2 catch" on his Twitter page the following day.
Owens also claims that he'd rather not speak with the media after games in order to avoid creating controversy, but NFL executive Greg Aiello told Owens in a "heated discussion" that it is an obligation, not an option.
