By Jason Cole,Knight Ridder Newspapers

MIAMI – Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor made it clear how he feels about the idea of wide receiver Terrell Owens being on his team.

All things considered, he’ll pass.

“No, I wouldn’t because of all this nonsense, it’s just not worth it,” Taylor said in an interview Thursday with Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard on 790 The Ticket. “I would want T.O. the football player, but I wouldn’t want T.O. Monday through Saturday and you can’t separate those things… . We’d be better off without him, just look at what it has done to the Eagles … a team that went from runner-up last year in the Super Bowl to being in the news every day for darn near all the wrong reasons. It’s just not worth it.”

Aside from Taylor, coach Nick Saban indicated it would be hard for him to sign a player such as Owens, although he wouldn’t talk specifically about Owens. Running back Ricky Williams also said Philadelphia should stand by Owens because they essentially created the situation.

Said Saban: “I think everybody knows how important team chemistry is. It’s not really us against us that we’re trying to get, it’s us against them. It’s pretty easy to recognize sometimes when it becomes us against us rather than us against them.”

Williams had a different take on the situation.

LIVE WITH DECISION

“The day they made a trade for him and signed him to a new contract, they had to have looked at his track record and known that’s what he was,” Williams said. “You can’t really punish a guy for being what he was. Not that what he did was right or wrong, but they knew what they were getting so it’s not really fair to punish him for being himself. It’s not like he did anything that really surprised anybody.”

Williams also discounted the notion that Owens is hurting team chemistry.

“I think if they were winning and playing better, nothing he said would matter. Team chemistry is something you get from winning, no matter what you say or think. If you’re losing, you’re not going to have team chemistry no matter what.”

Williams also said he didn’t think his situation last year was all that similar to Owens’ this year.

“I never didn’t fit in. I decided to leave and then came back. I wasn’t a problem guy when I left, so I didn’t have a problem coming back. I don’t think I was ever a problem guy other than I left. I don’t really say much,” Williams said.

All of that said, there is no denying Owens’ talent.

Said Taylor: “I never said that T.O. was a bad football player because he’s not. He’s an excellent football player, probably the best or one of the best in the game. He did some good things for them last year, helped them out and helped them win games, but you know they did go on a playoff run without him and made it to the Super Bowl.

“The regular season is one thing, but the playoffs is a step up from that. The Eagles did it without T.O. and they did it as a – let’s all listen to this now – they did it as a team. It’s a team game. If you wanna be T.O. and you wanna beat your chest and talk about how great you are and you’re the best thing since sliced cheese and the invention of the wheel then go play tennis or golf and let’s see how good you are.”

Taylor went on to call Owens’ apology Tuesday a “joke” and called agent Drew Rosenhaus a “goofball.”

“It was a joke,” Taylor said. “First of all, why was Drew Rosenhaus out there. If T.O. wants to apologize, then you go up to the microphone and you apologize and you don’t read it,” said Taylor, who was also critical of Williams last year after Williams retired shortly before training camp opened in 2004. “An apology that sounds like somebody else wrote that you seem totally uncomfortable with and then you have Drew taking questions and saying “Next question, next question’ and then I don’t want to answer questions.

“It was a joke. The whole thing was handled very poorly, and it’s made not only T.O. look bad, but the whole organization up there and I think in a lot of peoples’ eyes athletes in general.

“It’s a shame, it’s a joke, it’s a travesty, it’s a lot of things. T.O and his goofball agent have ruined it and have really made things really sour and it’s a shame.”

TOUCHY SUBJECT

Rosenhaus, who represents approximately 90 players and has more clients than any other agent in the NFL, also represents Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas.

Thomas is Taylor’s brother-in-law.

“At the end of the day, your agent represents you and you’ve got to be in charge of what your agent does,” Taylor said. “It is a reflection of your personality, you know how you let your agent handle it, and I think they were a good match for each other, T.O. and Drew Rosenhaus because they are obviously both one and the same.

“But Zach Thomas is a different personality because I think that he keeps Drew Rosenhaus a little more subdued when it comes to his things.”



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(c) 2005, The Miami Herald.

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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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AP-NY-11-11-05 2149EST

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