I’M
STILL
ME
Story by Chris Franklin
Photos by Arthur St. John
T.O. People who have followed the National
Football League for a while know those letters.
They conjure up memories of acrobatic catches
and touchdown celebrations. The letters also
bring to mind controversies and post-game
press conferences. No matter what side of the
fence people are on, there’s no denying that
Terrell Owens is one of the best receivers to have
ever played in the NFL. So, what is someone
who amassed 16,000 receptions and 153 career
touchdowns doing now? He is playing a different
position: entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs have many
different reasons why they
choose to start the business
they create. For Owens, his
passion comes from the same
source that helped him during
his football career.
“My family is my passion. They are what keeps
me going,” he said. “This [business] is something
that my mom wanted to do when she was
younger. She’s been living vicariously through
me. She wanted to do everything that I’ve done as
a professional and football has afforded me to do
those things. She wanted to be on the big screen
and to be on TV. She also wanted to be a model.
She wanted to do all these things but having kids
at an early age prevented her from achieving
some of her goals. She was a kid having kids.
She had no choice but to sacrifice her dreams to
make ends meet for myself and the rest of my
sisters and brothers. People understand that my
family, including my kids, mean the world to
me.”
With his mother, Marilyn, having to work
multiple jobs and his father not around, Terrell
spent a lot of time with his grandmother, Alice.
8
www.coachandplayer.com