Forget everything you know about Terrell Owens - his on-field absurdity, his off-field… well, absurdity fits there too. But forget all that. This is an origin story, an account of how Owens became the T.O. we remember today.
And it’s basically thanks to beef. This is the story of Terrell Owens and Steve Mariucci failing to get along in a way that helped nobody but T.O.
Couple little errors: at 1:53 I said Jeff Garcia a 28-year-old rookie, he was in fact 29! And then at 10:39 that was actually their second game since being together in SF. That's my bad. Taking my flogging in private.
And it’s basically thanks to beef. This is the story of Terrell Owens and Steve Mariucci failing to get along in a way that helped nobody but T.O.
Couple little errors: at 1:53 I said Jeff Garcia a 28-year-old rookie, he was in fact 29! And then at 10:39 that was actually their second game since being together in SF. That's my bad. Taking my flogging in private.
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00:00 Forget everything you know about Terrell Owens.
00:03 His on-field absurdity, his off-field, well,
00:08 absurdity fits there too, but forget all that.
00:11 This is an origin story, an account of how Owens
00:14 became the T.O. we remember today,
00:17 and it's basically thanks to beef.
00:20 In 1996, Terrell Owens was drafted into a dream scenario.
00:27 In San Francisco, he'd catch passes
00:29 from one of the greatest QBs to ever do it, Steve Young,
00:32 and learn under the greatest receiver of all time,
00:35 Jerry Rice.
00:36 When Owens impressed during his first training camp,
00:39 the comparison to Rice was too hard to avoid,
00:41 especially when Rice himself dished it out.
00:45 When discussing Owens' performance,
00:47 words like eye-popping came to mind,
00:49 but for Owens the person, quiet was the descriptor.
00:54 Owens watched, he learned, and he waited for his turn,
00:58 which didn't take long.
01:00 Injuries ahead of Owens turned him into the team's
01:03 second leading receiver as a rookie.
01:05 A year later, when Rice mangled his knee,
01:07 a larger spotlight on Owens just made it easier
01:10 for Young to find him all season long.
01:13 Dude stepped up fast and showed star potential,
01:16 which made life easier for the 49ers' brand new,
01:19 first-time NFL head coach, Steve Mariucci.
01:22 Mariucci inherited some very large shoes to fill.
01:27 Replacing the guy holding the NFL's best ever
01:29 winning percentage isn't ideal,
01:31 but along with those shoes,
01:33 Mooch also inherited a talented roster.
01:35 So as he tried to establish himself,
01:38 Mariucci had the benefits of a successful veteran squad,
01:41 plus the new hotness that was Owens.
01:44 But we all learned how quickly wheels can fall off a cart.
01:48 1999 nosedived when Young suffered
01:51 a career-ending concussion.
01:53 As 28-year-old rookie Jeff Garcia took Young's place,
01:57 San Francisco entered a rebuild nearly overnight.
02:00 But for Owens and Mariucci,
02:02 the 2000 season represented a fresh start.
02:05 They could lean on each other
02:06 as they cemented their places in the league,
02:09 and maybe get out of their predecessors' shadows.
02:12 Well, after an Owen three-start, we felt a tremor.
02:16 Rice acknowledged that his longevity
02:18 might have prevented the younger guys
02:20 from developing quicker.
02:22 It's a selfless thought,
02:23 but one that Owens disagreed with.
02:26 Not only did Owens disagree,
02:28 he chose to point his finger at,
02:31 to use his words, the coach.
02:33 In Mariucci's eyes,
02:35 it's normal for receivers to want the ball,
02:37 so no harm in that.
02:38 The 49ers headed to their game in Dallas.
02:41 Mariucci would make sure Owens got the ball.
02:43 Everyone would be happy, right?
02:45 Well, if that quote was a tremor,
02:47 then what happened next was a sandworm
02:49 erupting from beneath Cowboy Stadium.
02:51 Let's start with the good.
02:52 San Francisco got their first win of the year,
02:55 and Owens helped that happen from start to finish.
02:58 Now the bad.
02:59 This celebration after his first touchdown on the day
03:02 was the first step in turning
03:04 a forgettable September football game
03:05 into something much more iconic.
03:08 On the very next drive,
03:09 Emmitt Smith reclaimed the star for Dallas
03:11 and dramatically slammed the ball down,
03:13 sending a message to the Niners
03:15 and any sandworms lurking below.
03:17 But Owens heeded no warning.
03:19 After Garcia found Owens from one yard out
03:21 for a nail in Dallas' coffin,
03:23 T.O. immediately returned to midfield
03:25 to celebrate on the star a second time.
03:28 Look at him right here.
03:29 So carefree, just enjoying his touchdown.
03:32 And if we advance a couple frames,
03:34 oh, hi, George Teague.
03:36 The Cowboys' safety bowled over T.O.
03:38 with players from each side in pursuit.
03:40 As for T.O., well, he went back to his claimed position
03:44 and showed absolutely zero stress,
03:46 even as the referees urged him off the field.
03:48 That moment muddied what should have been
03:50 a celebratory weekend for the team.
03:52 After the game, Mariucci did his best to minimize,
03:55 saying that emotions might have gotten the best
03:57 of a team that hadn't won in a while.
04:00 Class really became the word of the day,
04:02 and Jerry Rice's shadow loomed even in this moment.
04:06 Owens got the message, heard what coach had to say,
04:09 but emphasized in order for him to play
04:12 on the level he does, he needed to do it his way.
04:16 T.O. had no plans to change,
04:18 and when pressed as to if he'd do it again,
04:21 a one-word answer sufficed.
04:23 Well, Mariucci decided to give Owens time to reconsider.
04:28 This boiled down to the coach feeling like Owens
04:31 had disrespected the game, which was then compounded
04:34 by his lack of remorse when speaking to the media.
04:38 Owens apparently did not take his punishment well,
04:40 but the week away appeared to clear T.O.'s head.
04:44 He returned, met with Mariucci,
04:47 and looked towards moving on.
04:49 Mooch even admitted his expectations might've been off.
04:53 It's unfair to hold anyone to Rice's standard.
04:56 Now, there is some irony here, but onwards.
04:59 The rest of 2000 played out quietly.
05:03 From there on, Owens' largest outburst came
05:05 when he dragged his teammates for not giving their all.
05:08 He apologized to the team for these comments,
05:10 but many felt no apology was necessary,
05:12 and Mooch only hurt a guy trying
05:15 to get the most out of his peers.
05:17 So, for now, it looked like Dallas was just a blip
05:21 on a career year for T.O. where his acts of absurdity
05:24 stayed in the realm of performance.
05:27 That sort of performance likely made
05:29 this difficult decision a touch easier.
05:32 For our purposes, releasing Rice presented two things.
05:35 First, Owens became the 49ers unquestioned star,
05:39 and second, it gave Rice an excuse to speak his mind.
05:42 He admitted to feeling like he and Mariucci
05:45 were never on the same page, which caught the coach
05:48 off guard a bit, but more importantly,
05:49 he gave us a very reliable insight into T.O.
05:53 It's almost like Rice was saying,
05:54 "Hey, Mooch, I know we had our differences,
05:56 "but man, you gotta look out."
05:59 Case in point, Owens had not forgotten
06:01 the game check he lost to suspension.
06:03 This got snuffed out quickly
06:06 once Mariucci opened his checkbook, though.
06:08 That's what we call harmony.
06:10 The team carried that harmony into the 2001 season.
06:14 No Young, now no Rice, well, no problem.
06:18 They needed to find their new identity still,
06:20 but it's wild how much winning can solve.
06:23 It didn't matter how much or how little Owens was involved,
06:27 the wins were coming, and that's what mattered.
06:30 And to coach's credit, after that comment from Owens,
06:32 he made sure the ball went to his number one guy.
06:35 But what about when the winning stopped?
06:37 What about when the ball stopped finding Owens?
06:40 Or when the team, let's say, came out of their bye week
06:43 and blew a huge lead to the Bears?
06:45 Well, get your popcorn.
06:48 Owens had a valid thought about what it takes
06:50 to keep a lead in the NFL.
06:52 Don't let up.
06:54 That's fine, but when pressed later that week, he expanded.
06:58 Coach didn't want to embarrass his friend
07:01 who was coaching the Bears.
07:02 In Teo's assessment, that allowed Chicago to come back
07:05 and get the best of San Francisco in overtime.
07:08 I suppose we should follow Owens' lead
07:10 and ignore how the game ended on a ball
07:12 he bobbled straight to a Bear
07:13 who returned it for a game-winning pick six.
07:16 After hearing Owens' view, Mariucci didn't hold back.
07:20 Completely void of any deep thought sends quite the message.
07:24 And the fact a head coach and player
07:26 were communicating through the media
07:27 also points toward where their relationship was at.
07:31 Owens didn't get hit with a fine or suspension,
07:33 but maybe because that would have called
07:35 for a face-to-face chat.
07:37 When a reporter finally asked point blank
07:39 about the relationship between coach and player,
07:42 Teo left no room for interpretation.
07:44 In defense of his comments,
07:46 Owens stated he just wanted to win.
07:49 He didn't care how anyone, Mariucci included,
07:51 tried to paint him.
07:52 It wasn't going to shake him.
07:53 Coach heard that and did try to lessen the critical load
07:56 piling on Owens' shoulders
07:58 while also admitting they didn't see eye to eye,
08:01 which was something they could agree on.
08:04 It was what it was,
08:04 so no need to focus on anything but football.
08:08 That request felt a little disingenuous
08:10 when it was revealed the receiver
08:12 kept some of Mariucci's harshest words for him
08:14 displayed in his locker to serve as motivation.
08:18 Clippings aside, Teo figured the best thing
08:21 was for player and coach to be two ships
08:23 passing in the night.
08:24 49ers brass might have seen that quote
08:26 and tried to do Owens a solid.
08:28 After Mariucci led San Francisco back to the playoffs
08:31 for the first time since '98,
08:33 the front office actually agreed to a deal
08:35 that would have sent Mariucci to Tampa,
08:37 but Mooch hesitated and the Bucs quickly pivoted
08:40 to John Gruden.
08:41 Because of that, our duo remained bound together
08:45 for at least one more season.
08:47 And because of that, Mariucci took a new approach.
08:50 In April 2002, he flew to Teo's home in Atlanta.
08:54 They met privately for real, honest conversations.
08:57 For seemingly the first time,
08:59 they put it all out in the open.
09:01 Both guys allowed themselves to be vulnerable
09:03 and found a genuine, personal place of connection.
09:06 Getting to know Teo and seeing that side of him
09:09 led to Mariucci putting the receiver
09:11 on the team's veteran leadership council.
09:13 He sounded relieved when describing
09:15 where their relationship was at.
09:17 For the first time in five years,
09:19 they were comfortable together.
09:21 When Teo pressed Mooch about their relationship
09:23 in a room full of people,
09:25 the coach walked over and gave him a big hug.
09:27 Now, naturally, Owens had a different takeaway
09:30 from the response.
09:32 But whether that was for the cameras
09:34 or for the sake of the team or just for themselves,
09:38 2002 was their quietest season together.
09:41 Even when Teo delivered an iconic celebration,
09:43 Mariucci only had good things to say.
09:46 Owens continued to be fueled by his emotions,
09:49 but he mostly kept them in check.
09:52 The closest he came to the previous seasons
09:54 was during the divisional round playoffs.
09:57 The 49ers were down big to close the first half
09:59 and with 50 seconds left,
10:01 two timeouts and the ball close to their 40,
10:03 Mariucci had his team pack it in to regroup.
10:07 Owens very visibly did not understand this decision,
10:10 but in fairness, most watching,
10:12 including the broadcast crew, didn't understand it either.
10:15 - Wow, I don't believe this.
10:17 - This is hard to believe.
10:18 - I do not believe this.
10:20 - That was Mariucci's final game with the 49ers.
10:24 Rumors came out that he'd pushed for more power,
10:26 which didn't go over well, but he denied as much.
10:30 According to Mariucci,
10:31 their final moment together was a positive one.
10:33 As he packed boxes in his office,
10:35 Owens came in, hugged him as they said their goodbyes.
10:38 Both sides moved on.
10:40 Neither man tried to bury the other in the media.
10:43 When they next shared a field two years later,
10:46 Owens had nothing to say, good or bad, about Mariucci.
10:50 Mooch finished a less successful stint in Detroit
10:53 before starting his broadcast career,
10:55 where the occasional Owens-related topic finds him,
10:58 but he remains on the high road.
11:00 After San Francisco, Owens headed to Philly,
11:03 where he found a new beef,
11:05 and he moved on to Dallas and found a newer beef.
11:08 At every stop he produced,
11:10 Teo finished his career as one of the greatest receivers
11:13 to ever play in the NFL,
11:14 yet somehow might be better remembered for the persona
11:18 and those bigger beefs that overshadow
11:20 the one that started it all.
11:22 The thing is, this beef isn't done.
11:24 Jerry Rice's words nearly two decades after he said them
11:27 continued to ring true.
11:29 Owens still hasn't relinquished this grudge.
11:32 In 2018, responding to a tweet,
11:34 he slammed Mariucci once again.
11:37 A year later, he said he had no interest
11:39 in ever settling things with his former coach,
11:42 even blamed Mariucci for how his selfish reputation
11:45 came to be.
11:47 And in 2020, Owens stated that he experienced systemic
11:51 racism with the 49ers while under Mariucci.
11:54 This is certainly a bigger deal than anything else
11:58 he has said, but Owens left it at that,
12:00 and Mariucci declined to respond when TMZ reached out.
12:04 We may never know the validity of that, but that's okay.
12:08 Honestly, we'll never have the full story of Teo.
12:11 Mariucci did do things that Owens didn't like.
12:15 There were personal reasons for this beef,
12:18 but at the same time, the coach could have been anybody.
12:21 Mooch was just a conduit for motivation,
12:24 an asset for Owens to use.
12:27 While his beef with Steve Mariucci didn't define Teo,
12:31 it did let us find out pretty early on
12:33 what he was all about.
12:35 His persona eventually took away from a Hall of Fame career,
12:38 but at the same time, that career may have never happened
12:42 without the motivation he found in beef.
12:44 (upbeat music)
12:46 (swooshing)
12:49 (chime)