updated 9:08 p.m. ET Dec. 17, 2005

PHILADELPHIA - Before Terrell Owens was banished from the Philadelphia Eagles, the All-Pro wide receiver told GQ magazine that some of his teammates didn’t want him to play in the Super Bowl last February.

“A lot of people, they doubted me,” Owens said in the January issue of GQ. “Some of my teammates didn’t want to see me come back, but I came back.

“That’s why I felt so ultimately disrespected, because I knew how hard I worked to get back on that field to help them. Had I not played, who knows, we probably would’ve gotten beat worse.”

Owens defied his doctor’s advice and played against New England in the Super Bowl, just 6½ weeks after ankle surgery. He had nine catches for 122 yards, but the Eagles lost 24-21.

“When I was rehabbing, they called me selfish for trying to get on the field to play,” he explained. “I said, ‘You guys are labeling me selfish for rehabbing, trying to play in the biggest game of the year?’ If Brett Favre had done it, you would’ve said he was a hero, would’ve given him an ’ironman’ award or something like that.

“But me? For whatever reason, I was selfish. And for the life of me, I just don’t understand.”

Owens told the magazine he felt “used” by the Eagles.

“One of the main reasons they brought me to Philadelphia was to get to the Super Bowl, so it’s just like, I feel used all of a sudden,” he said. “You all used me to win a lot of games, and then once I got hurt last year before the playoffs, it was, ’Yeah, we really don’t need T.O.’ “

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Owens wonders if the media is out to get him.

“The things that I’ve done in the past, like celebrate in the end zone, they’re making a fanfare out of it now with (Bengals wide receiver) Chad Johnson,” Owens said. “With all the celebrations that he’s done, they’re like congratulating him for it. But if it was me, they’d be like, ’Oh, we don’t need this in football, this is not good for football.’ Not that Chad is doing something wrong, it’s not his fault, but you kind of wonder, do they have it out for me?”

Owens is known for his flamboyant celebrations, including the Sharpie incident and posing on the Cowboys’ star at midfield at Texas Stadium.

Owens feels he doesn’t get equal treatment from the media.

“I went down to the Houston Astrodome after (Hurricane) Katrina, but nobody made a big deal about it,” he said. “But you saw Peyton Manning and his brother, they made a big deal about that. I did it on my own. I didn’t do it for publicity.”

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Owens came to the Eagles in March 2004 after eight sometimes-controversial seasons in San Francisco. He was suspended last month for a series of infractions and critical public comments about quarterback Donovan McNabb and the organization, dating to his offseason demands for a new contract. An arbitrator later upheld the team’s decision to deactivate him for the remainder of the season.

Owens hasn’t spoken publicly since he apologized and pleaded for a second chance one day after the Eagles sent him home for good on Nov. 7. His interview with GQ was conducted one week before he played his last game for the Eagles against Denver on Oct. 30.

Owens held a birthday party earlier this week in Atlantic City, N.J. At least 19 Eagles attended the party, including Jevon Kearse, Brian Westbrook and Lito Sheppard.

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