It’s been nearly two decades since Terrell Owens left the Dallas Cowboys, and he still hasn’t made peace with how it happened. Now, weighing in on the Cowboys’ current quarterback situation, Owens sided with Tony Romo over Dak Prescott, the same Romo he once blamed, alongside Jason Garrett, for pushing him out of the building.
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“It pains me to say this based on my departure from the Cowboys and how I know part of the reasons why I wasn’t there, but I would have to say, Romo,” Owens said on Get To The Point, choosing the former quarterback as the better one over prime Dak Prescott. “I’m not going to hate on the dude. The dude can ball. I mean, we did some great things in my three years there… But unfortunately, it came to an end. So it is what it is.”
Owens arrived in Dallas in March 2006, four days after the Philadelphia Eagles released him. The Cowboys signed the veteran receiver to a three-year, $25 million contract, betting that his ability would outweigh the baggage from his turbulent exit in Philadelphia.
That deal began a three-year run in which Owens became one of Dallas’ most productive receivers, even as his relationship with the organization eventually became complicated.
Terrell Owens spent three seasons in Dallas, from 2006 through 2008, and he was excellent while he was there. He topped 1,000 receiving yards and hit double-digit touchdowns in all three years, led the league with 13 scores in 2006, and earned First Team All-Pro honors in 2007 after catching 15 touchdowns.
The 2007 season was the high point of Owens’ run in Dallas. He caught 81 passes for 1,355 yards and 15 touchdowns, earning first-team All-Pro honors as the Cowboys went 13-3, won the NFC East and claimed the top seed in the NFC playoffs.
The numbers make the ending of Owens’ Dallas tenure more complicated. His departure two years later was not driven by declining production, as he remained one of the league’s most dangerous receivers and a central part of one of the NFC’s best teams.
The relationship between Owens and Romo was not always defined by resentment. After Dallas lost 21-17 to the New York Giants in the NFC divisional round in January 2008, Owens became emotional while defending his quarterback against criticism over the defeat.
“This is not about Tony,” Owens said. “You guys can point the finger at him, you can talk about the vacation, and if you do that, it’s really unfair. That’s my teammate. That’s my quarterback. We lost as a team.”
It was a stark show of loyalty from Owens, who believed Romo was receiving too much blame after the playoff loss. By the end of the following season, however, reports of tension involving Owens, Romo and Jason Witten had changed the picture around Dallas’ offense.
None of that saved his job. Jerry Jones and the front office let him go before the 2009 season, and ESPN reported the move was really “to improve locker-room morale,” with questions swirling around how Owens got along with Tony Romo and former tight end Jason Witten. The former receiver claimed that he was “blindsided” by the move.
Back in 2008, his last season in Dallas, Owens reportedly got suspicious that Romo and Witten were too close, accusing them of meeting privately to plan plays without him. He believed Romo would target Witten no matter what, even when Owens was open.
Asked about a possible rift at the time, head coach Wade Phillips brushed it off.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Wade Phillips said. “We’ve thrown for a lot of yards with a lot of players. One receiver is pretty close to 1,000 yards. … There’s no favoritism there; we are going to the guy that is going to be open.”
Terrell Owens led Dallas’ wide receivers in receiving yards in each of his three seasons with the team. Witten, however, remained close behind in 2007 and 2008, topping 1,000 yards himself in 2007. Late in the 2008 season, Witten led the Cowboys with 64 receptions, compared with 55 for Owens. Owens still led the team with 848 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. According to an ESPN source, Owens could not understand why Witten had more catches.
The difference in targets added to the tension. ESPN also reported that Owens repeatedly criticized offensive coordinator Jason Garrett’s play-calling and offensive approach, leading some around the team to believe Garrett did not think he and Owens could coexist.
He later made his frustration with Romo more explicit. Speaking on ESPN Radio’s “Ben & Skin” Show in 2012, he said he had lost respect for the way his departure from Dallas unfolded.
“With that situation, dude, I’ve kind of lost my respect for that situation,” Owens said on the “Ben & Skin” Show, per ESPN Dallas. “Man, that’s a guy I shed tears for; I went to bat for. Then obviously, ultimately I’m not in Dallas anymore, and I know he definitely had a hand in that. So, again, it’s one of those things that you kind of just have to bite your tongue and keep moving on, you know what I mean?”
Owens never really let that go. Back in 2018, he dragged both Garrett and Romo back into the controversy. He said on X that Garrett “was part of getting rid of me,” and claimed Romo had a hand in it too, suggesting Romo resented him for being a “fan favorite in Philly.”
There’s clearly a lot of history here. Owens is a Hall of Famer, a six-time Pro Bowler, and a five-time First Team All-Pro who also played for the 49ers, Eagles, Bills, and Bengals, but he still hasn’t made peace with how his time in Dallas ended.
What’s interesting is how his feelings toward Romo seem to have shifted, even if that grudge hasn’t fully faded.