T.O.’s attempt at a 16th season in the NFL may be over before it even began.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported on Sunday night that Terrell Owens had surgery to correct a torn ACL in one of his knees. The former Bengals receiver is expected to miss (at least) six months.
The cause of the injury isn’t yet known, though renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews confirmed it happened within the last month.
One of Mort’s sources says Owens hurt himself while taping a show for VH1. Another says he tore the ligament during a workout. Owens’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, hasn’t and probably won’t say word one to anybody.
No matter the root of the problem, Owens is going to be on the shelf for a while. Even with “intensive” rehab, his best case scenario calls for a return in mid-to-late November.
Luckily for T.O., he didn’t suffer any other damage to his knee. Especially if it’s his left knee, which Owens had operated on after tearing his meniscus in a game last season.
Soon to be a free agent, Owens could ill afford this happen to him. At 37, he’s battling age and was already recovering from a major procedure on a knee, so other teams were going to be wary of bringing him aboard. Now he’ll be lucky if he’s signed by Halloween.
But if there’s one thing in Owens’ corner, it’s his physical attributes. T.O. has long kept his body in supreme physical condition, and it’s allowed him to remain productive well into his 30′s.
With his intense workout routines, the odds aren’t totally against him returning by November, but it’ll be anyone’s guess what he can bring to the table at that point.
