Bill Polian calls Terrell Owens a ‘cancer’ who doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame

Bill Polian, Pro Football Hall of Fame GM, said recently Terrell Owens didn’t make the teams he played for better.

In an interview with Talk of Fame Sports Network, Polian said the following.

“I think the Hall of Fames are for people who make their teams better, not who detract from them,” Polian said. “What did Owens do that made his teams better? He put up a lot of numbers. Bill [Parcells] said that he was a disruptive force. Jerry [Jones], who’s probably one of the most easy-going people when it comes to disruptive guys, got rid of him. I’ve gotten texts from people in Philadelphia responding to the campaign saying, ‘This guy was a cancer and destroyed our football team.’ How does that square with the Hall of Fame?”

Owens was in the league for 15 seasons. He played with the 49ers, Eagles, Cowboys, Bills, and Bengals.

Seven of those seasons, Owens had at least 13 receiving TDs ... only two other players have ever had more than three such seasons.

Eight of those seasons included making it to the playoffs — in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2007.

Nine of those seasons had him posting more than 1,000 receiving yards.

He was a Pro Bowler six times, and first team All-Pro five times as well.

We gathered more of Owens’ stats in this post. It also includes some of Owens’ antics, on and off the field. Some of those actions certainly earned him criticism, but were they actually making teams worse?

Owens himself doesn’t think so, and he’s got people who will back him up.

When you look at Owens’ numbers, it’s hard to see exactly how he “destroyed” the teams for which he played.