Former Bengals WR Terrell Owens Receives HOF Honors Today
By Jack Lane
Terrell Owens may have only played one season with the Bengals, but that shouldn’t stop us from celebrating his legendary career.
Today is the day that all football fans have been waiting for – the official start of football. For the Bengals, the season doesn’t start just yet, but the Ravens will host the Bears tonight in the first preseason game of the season in the Hall of Fame game. Of course, that means the Hall of Fame induction ceremony is tonight as well.
The 2018 class is absolutely loaded as far as talent and production goes. In alphabetical order, the inductees are Bobby Beathard, Robert Brazile, Brian Dawkins, Jerry Kramer, Ray Lewis, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, and Brian Urlacher. Aside from Lewis, who terrorized the Bengals during his tenure in Baltimore, Terrell Owens should stand out as the most important inductee for Bengals.
Owens played only one season with the Bengals, but it was a historic one for him. While in Cincinnati, Owens reached the elusive 15,000 receiving yard mark. Coming into the 2010 season, he only needed to post 49 yards to reach the mark. His stat line with the Bengals far exceeded that though, as he delivered 72 catches for 983 yards and 9 touchdowns. Even though he had an impressive year in his age 37 season, Owens retired after his one season on the Bengals.
Over the course of his 15 year career, Owens put up numbers matched by very few wide receivers. A third round pick out of Tennessee-Chattanooga, he started his career with 8 seasons in San Francisco. Afterwards, he played 2 seasons in Philadelphia, 3 in Dallas, 1 in Buffalo, and of course 1 in Cincinnati. Owens’ career numbers are 1,078 catches for 15,934 yards and a staggering 153 touchdowns. Owens had 8 seasons with double digit touchdowns, and another 2 seasons with 9.
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Of the 8 inductees, Owens had made the most headlines over his decision not to attend the ceremony in Canton, Ohio. In recent years, the relationship between Owens and the Hall of Fame committee has been tense because of Owens’ non-inclusion. Although he claims he’s not, some believe he is boycotting the event. Owens will be speaking at his alma mater instead. Regardless, Owens is one of the great wide receivers in NFL history, and the Bengals get to share a small piece of that history.