The only thing the NFL can agree on about Terrell Owens is he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame

Early in Terrell Owens’ career with the San Francisco 49ers, we often discussed his game, growth, immaturity, bluntness, friskiness, gimmicks, passion, boldness, shyness, and solitude. He always looked you in the eyes without blinking. Sometimes he knew he was wrong and other times he was certain he was right. In both instances, that stone-cold gaze was perfected — along with complex defenses to protect his heart.

In one of our earliest interviews at the 49ers’ complex, he insisted we conduct it in my rental car. In the 49ers’ parking lot. First, inside the car, then outside the car, hanging out. He said he wanted to breathe.

He said he thinks best outside of a venue.

Outside of a box.

It was of little surprise he announced he will skip his Hall of Fame induction Aug. 3 in Canton, Ohio. He said he will find another way, another place to celebrate. He could change his mind. I hope he does.

Because what he covets, he could find in Canton.

Philadelphia Eagles legend and safety Brian Dawkins is a member of the 2018 Hall of Fame class.

“I have reached out to T.O., texted him, been in touch, and that will remain private, but the point was I wanted him to be good, I wanted him to be all right,” Dawkins said. “It is his choice.

“Not a lot of people get to this position and into the Hall of Fame. For me, my point is to be appreciative to others … I’ve got to watch it, cause I’m getting into my speech for the Hall now. But when you are blessed and play this game and get to this point, there are so many people who have helped you get there. And you just like to get the chance to give the credit to them.”

Dawkins, a former Owens teammate, said there is an Owens persona he wishes the world could see at the Hall of Fame ceremonies.

“I concentrate on the T.O. I know and his heart, that’s the thing,” Dawkins said. “The one I see is when he is around my family and kids. A loving man. That is the individual I want people to see and am praying they will see.”

Owens is peeved he had to wait three classes to enter the hall.

He is upset the writers who held his induction hostage rubbed his nose in the wait. A “cancer” to coaches, teammates and franchises, they labeled him, ignoring his sterling NFL production.

But that should not keep Owens away from the ceremonies, longtime NFL defensive expert Dom Capers said.

“He was an impact player, the first thing his size, such great size as a wide receiver, big and strong and physical, a tremendous catch radius and great after the catch,” Capers said. “Good intensity. He came to play. You had to account for him. If you couldn’t match up with him, you had to find a way to help out. He got a lot of your attention in preparation. He could make the big play at anytime.

“He deserves the Hall of Fame. I always think it’s the ultimate honor. You work so hard your whole career, very few get this salute, and you’d like to see a guy show up. But I don’t know all of the implications, I don’t know all the reasons why or why not. And to be fair to him, those considerations are important.”

Former Giants receiver Amani Toomer was in the same 1996 Draft class as Owens.

Toomer remembers a receiver who arrived “with big eyes from tiny Tennessee-Chattanooga” at the Senior Bowl. He saw a pro who became a “stickler in his technique, followed a strict diet, an extremely confident guy who was unapologetic about who he was.”

Toomer also remembers the 2004 season, quarterback Eli Manning’s rookie season, and “how I was in my ninth year and I was disappointed we were starting over with a rookie — it was not ideal.” Toomer said that Owens approached him on the field after a game that season and told him he knew he was frustrated, to hang in there. Toomer said it surprised him that Owens was so aware and that considerate. It was another side of Owens people don’t see, he said.

“We’re becoming an MVP, Hall of Fame society and that misses the point of team sports,” Toomer said. “I don’t understand the Hall of Fame in their need for writers to validate players’ careers, people who have never played the game. It plays into the athletes’ insecurities, for those athlete who are always looking for validation that they are good. I applaud T.O. for standing up. That is the ultimate great player taking his power back and not letting these people be the judge. I don’t know if I would do it that way. But love him or hate him, you got to respect that. I think the players respect him differently.”

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis coached Owens in 2010, the receiver’s final NFL season. Lewis remembers Owens enjoying a big year until injuries slowed him.

“As great a player you saw from afar he was even better in person, just scary,” Lewis said. “He was big and physical at a time when there were not a lot of guys like that like there are now; he probably helped set the standard for that. Starting in San Francisco and being around Jerry Rice helped him set a foundation as a player. T.O. had a following. He has an aura that brought people to see him.

“If he were asking me, I’d say he should go. It’s a great honor and to be a part of the reverence of the others in the hall and share that with them is special.”

Owens early in his career told me about the father he never knew who lived across from him on his Alabama street. He talked affectionately about the grandmother who primarily raised him. He talked about her strict rules: As a child he could play in the yard, ride his bike on the sidewalk in front of the house, but never wander beyond. He was forced to stay close to home. This was the way to keep him safest, his grandmother insisted.

Oftentimes, Owens said, he would stare out of his window at other kids running and playing freely.

Owens developed an aloofness and solitude that manifested in his football career. Owens insisted his emotional components were “bluntness and pure honesty.”

Others called them selfishness and immaturity.

Receivers Keyshawn Johnson, Terry Glenn, Eric Moulds, Marvin Harrison, and Toomer were all drafted ahead of Owens in 1996. Eighty-eight players were selected before him.

Two Hall of Fame classes preceded him before he was chosen.

Terrell Owens has always believed his road would be hardest, that he was in the game but for some parts of it stuck in a window looking outside.

The prelude to his Hall of Fame induction and the actual moment itself could heal old wounds and break that window for Owens.

I think he would find restoration in Canton.