He played from 1996 through 2010 for five teams and is in the top 10 in every major receiving category, ranking third all-time among receivers with 153 touchdowns. He was a six-time Pro Bowl selection, five times All-Pro, named to the 2000s All-Decade team and enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2018.
Owens is part of a growing group of former NFL players who play pickleball regularly, including Nick Foles, Larry Fitzgerald, Golden Tate and Rodney Adams. Former Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback Ryan Finley is a touring pro with the Professional Pickleball Association and the Association of Pickleball Professionals( his Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating [ DUPR ] is just under 6.0 in singles and doubles). Hall of Famer and former quarterback Drew Brees is a terrific pickleball player as well.
Brees along with future Hall member and seven-time Super Bowl champ Tom Brady are even part owners of Major League Pickleball teams.
During a wide-ranging, 40-minute interview with Pickleball Magazine, Owens said,“ Pickleball is not an
addiction with me— I see it as a challenge. I’ m learning the sport. I’ m down with just the process of it.”
The 52-year-old Inglewood, California, resident picked up a pickleball paddle for the first time in October 2024 at the Encino home of his friend, former NFL defensive end Marcellus Wiley.
“ I had no idea about how to play at that time. I was basically just trying to return the ball, get it back over the net.”
Right after that introduction, Owens went to Target to buy a paddle.
He says he was at once fascinated and frustrated by the game’ s strategy.“ It’ s all about ball placement. It’ s like playing chess.”
The frustration was mostly due to a rule that many beginners have trouble adhering to:“ I had to get used to letting the ball bounce before returning serves. That got on my nerves. The first month I had to get accustomed to that.”
Owens feels that pickleball is more difficult than football in some ways because in football, the next play
TERRELL OWENS HITS A FOREHAND DRIVE DURING THE JAKE PLUMMER PICKLEBALL BASH, HOSTED BY THE GOOD SPORT FOUNDATION IN TEMPE, ARIZONA. HE WAS JOINED BY SEVERAL PRO ATHLETES AND CELEBRITIES AT THE FUNDRAISING EVENT.
34 TO SUBSCRIBE, CALL 412.914.8294 OR GO TO PICKLEBALLMAGAZINE. COM