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.
“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.”
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.
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 the receivers in yards in all three of his seasons with the Cowboys. But Witten followed close behind in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, even surpassing the 1,000-yard mark in 2007. Towards the end of the 2008 season, Witten led the Cowboys with 64 receptions to 55 for Owens, who instead led in receiving yards with 848 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Per ESPN, according to one source, Owens could not understand how the tight end had more catches.
Per ESPN, Owens criticized offensive coordinator Jason Garrett’s play calling and his strategies so much that some felt Garrett did not believe he and Owens could coexist.
Owens hasn’t held back on Romo either. Speaking on ESPN Radio’s “Ben & Skin” Show back in 2012, he admitted he had lost respect for how things played out.
“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.