Arlen Specter says Terrell Owens is a victim

[quaoar]

He actually plans to have hearings on whether the NFL and the Eagles violated antitrust laws in discipling T.O.

U.S. Senator Says Eagles Treated Owens Unfairly
Specter Leaves Possibility Open of Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

PHILADELPHIA (Nov. 29) - Sen. Arlen Specter has accused the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles of treating Terrell Owens unfairly, and might refer the matter to the antitrust subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Specter, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said at a news conference Monday in Harrisburg it was "vindictive and inappropriate" for the league and the Eagles to forbid the star wide receiver from playing and prevent other teams from talking to him.

"It's a restraint of trade for them to do that, and the thought crosses my mind, it might be a violation of antitrust laws," Specter said.

The Eagles suspended Owens on Nov. 5 for four games without pay for "conduct detrimental to the team, and deactivated him with pay on Sunday after the suspension ended.

[medeak]

1. how many of US can keep a job when

being totally insubordinate?

[truebrit71]

6. I can think of no other job that wuold allow me to beat the shit...

...out of a co-worker, physically threaten the rest of my co-workers, publicly bad-mouth the boss, and then allow me to keep my job....

This reminds me of Latrell Spreewell attacking and choking his coach a few years back...why wasn't that sonofabitch thrown in jail???

Oh, because he's a professional athlete, so the rules don't apply...


Sorry Arlen, but you're better off making up 'magic-bullet' theories then getting involved in this one.... :eyes:

[rniel]

13. RE:

"how many of US can keep a job when"
being totally insubordinate?

Bush still has his job

[SammyBlue]

2. Yes, this is a big enough deal to use Congress. Dude, I'm a Bills fan

You don't see me running to Clinton or Schumer to investigate their bad season.

Nice pandering to your voter, Arlen. Haven't you died yet?

[quaoar]

5. I'm a Saints fan

Even with congressional intervention we are doomed to mediocrity. And since they beat the Jets on Sunday they'll probably lose any chance to draft Leinart.

[enough already]

18. Pandering?

What is really stupid about Specter's bullshit is that almost all of Philly hates Owens at this point.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

3. Jeez, Arlen, competing with (P)ricky? Will this be your "Schiavo moment"?

Don't you have a few things more important then a SINGLE football player's status?

I thought Santorum had already cornered the grandstanding market for PA Senators.

:eyes:

[arewenotdemo]

10. Specter still seeking that old Ira Einhorn rush

[hwmnbn]

4. WTF!!!....Aren't there more pressing concerns...

on arlen's plate right now? What is with this distraction?

[billbuckhead]

7. America is now officially as decadent as Rome

Who cares about this spoiled brat of a football player while our soldiers and militia are fighting for their lives in the stupidest war in modern history, while literally millions of citizens jobs are lost or in peril, while our government is threatened with sinking into a swamp of corruption, ad nauseum?

[Rambis]

8. "this is about feeding my family" Latrell Spreewell

I need to make 47 million not the 42 million I SIGNED FOR!
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Piss off cry baby!

[Sandpiper]

9. This has to be the ultimate DOA issue

Like any politician outside of Pennsylvania would go to the mat for Terrell Owens.

[LynneSin]

11. Notice Santorum isn't getting involved

Arlen not only doesn't have a re-election in 2006 one would suspect this is probably Specter's last term as a senator. So personally he can piss off all the Philadelphians he wants with this bullshit.

I'm sure Tricky Rick ain't getting involved because I highly doubt that anyone from Philadelphia (which btw, the fans overwhelmingly support Reid) is keen about what Specter is doing. Maybe it's a stunt that'll help introduce Lynn Swann to the republicans in Pennsylvania

[meow2u3]

20. Tricky Ricky's not an Eagle fan AFAIK

I think he's a Steeler fan, but he should be a Redskin fan since he's a Virginian.

[ArkDem]

12. T.O. is a victim.

Of his own hubris.

[Vinca]

14. How totally, totally dumb.

Considering what this guy gets paid, a little team spirit shouldn't be hard to muster. How Arlen Specter equates any of this with antitrust laws is a mystery. He violated the "poor me, I have to act appropriately because they give me millions of bucks" law. Yoo hoo, Arlen . . . war? poverty? bird flu? immigration? health care? energy? New Orleans?

[quaoar]

15. But you don't understand

If Donovan McNabb is allowed to get away with not throwing to T.O. on every other play, where will the disrespect stop? The next thing you know, the Eagles will expect T.O. to show up for practice. Where will the intolerable working conditions stop?

[BluegrassDem]

16. There is a right and wrong about this

It doesn't matter how much money T.O. is getting paid. The fact is that they are treating him wrongly. Ok, fine...suspend him for 4 games. Since he's been acting like an ass, then that's perfectly legitimate to suspend him, like on any other job. But after the suspension, they basically won't let him go. If the Eagles don't want T.O, then just let him go! The Eagles know that T.O. is the best receiver in the game, so they don't want him to go to another team, but then they don't want him either. That's not right. The Eagles should just fire him if they don't want him, like anyone in corporate America.

[quaoar]

21. Owens is not exactly an indentured servant

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/24/sports/football/24owens.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1133312874-4t8PU8Vrc6bRLowh9e+lQQ

Ruling Means Owens Won't Be Back This Season

By CLIFTON BROWN
Published: November 24, 2005
The controversial receiver Terrell Owens found it harder to beat the Philadelphia Eagles than it was to beat opposing defensive backs.

The arbitrator Richard Bloch ended Owens's season yesterday when he upheld the Eagles' four-game suspension and ruled that the team could deactivate Owens for the rest of the season.

The Eagles will not pick up the option on Owens's contract during the off-season, making him a free agent. Owens remains one of the league's best receivers, and he will most likely sign with another team, but his stays in San Francisco and Philadelphia, however, ended in acrimony.

[elperromagico]

17. And AS is going to be very unhappy until he gets what he wants.

n/t

[Strawman]

19. Recently in a poly sci book I read about his knack for publicity stunts...

like this. I guess this is another example for the revised edition. Can't remember which book. I wanna say it was Unorthodox Lawmaking by Barbara Sinclair, but that might be wrong.

[sakabatou]

22. WHAT?!

Yeah right... :puke: