Tuna will tame T.O., former players say
If Parcells can handle L.T., Bryan Cox, Keyshawn, Owens shouldn't be worse
Doug Benc / Getty Images fileThe big question in Dallas this year? How will Terrell Owens mesh with coach Bill Parcells.
COMMENTARY
By Michael Bradley
updated 9:04 p.m. ET Aug. 11, 2006
Andre Tippett felt he had earned it. He was, after all, a 34-year-old 11-year veteran. As the Patriots' 1993 training camp wore on — and the heat, contact and boredom asserted themselves — Tippett craved a day off.
He floated the idea to new coach Bill Parcells. "I thought it was my time," Tippett says. It was his time, all right — time to learn about Parcells.
"He said, 'I'm not going to give you a day off, but if you think you need it, take it,' " Tippett says. "That left me on the spot. I thought, 'I better show up for practice.' "
Tippett showed up, but he had given Parcells some ammunition. For the next few practices, Parcells kept asking whether Tippett "had enough left in the tank" to play a full season. "He said, 'If you're so tired, take a couple days off. Go ahead and do that,' " Tippett recalls. All of a sudden, Tippett wasn't a five-time Pro Bowl player. He was a rookie again.
"I went back to my room and questioned myself," Tippett says. "I started running an extra lap at the end of practice. I lifted a little more and ate a little less. I committed myself to having my best year."
Tippett finished the '93 season — his last in the NFL — with 8.5 sacks and four fumble recoveries. And he played in all 16 games. Not bad for a tired old man. He credits Parcells with inspiring him to find that reserve supply of fuel and use every drop. And he serves as one of dozens of testimonials to the power of the Tuna, the NFL's master psychologist.
"He will try to find out what your weaknesses and strengths are," Tippett says. "He will go after your pride. He'll find out how motivated you are."
This summer, Parcells will probe the mystifying mind of Terrell Owens in what could constitute his biggest challenge. In T.O., who signed a three-year, $25 million deal with the Cowboys, Parcells confronts a shrink's dream. Equal parts dramatically petulant and supremely gifted, the wide receiver has mixed mayhem and genius in San Francisco and Philadelphia. He has criticized teammates and coaches, divided locker rooms and done everything to attract attention short of holding his breath until turning blue.
Now, he's wearing Cowboys blue, and everybody wants to know how Parcells will transform the selfish star into the team player. That has been Parcells' hallmark since the autocratic coach took over the Giants in 1983.
For the most part, Parcells' former players and coaches think Owens won't be any different from Lawrence Taylor, Bryan Cox, Terry Glenn, Keyshawn Johnson or the many other hard cases who were transformed into "Parcells guys."
"I don't think he'll have any problems with T.O.," says Browns offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon, who played for and coached with Parcells for 15 years. "I know what I've heard about T.O. I know what type of player he is. I don't think his problem is not doing what he's supposed to do; it's more about being the highest-paid (receiver).
"Bryan Cox was one of the most hated players in the NFL when he came to us in New York. If he can coach Cox, T.O. will be easy."
Maybe. Cox was tough, but he was never sent home midway through a season, as Owens was last year with the Eagles. L.T. was a madman off the field but the consummate big-game performer on it. Even Johnson quieted his hyperactive mouth long enough to mature into a better all-around player under Parcells.
The question is not whether Parcells can deal with Owens; it's whether T.O. can handle Parcells' constant quest for perfection, his single-minded approach to team and the stream of sarcasm he uses to break weak-hearted players.
Neither of Owens' previous coaches — the 49ers' Steve Mariucci and the Eagles' Andy Reid — is anything like Parcells, who keeps pushing until he's certain players can be trusted in the most stressful on-field circumstances. Mariucci was too nice. Reid tried to let his players defuse problems, and that didn't work. Parcells simply won't tolerate any behavior that compromises his team. Never has and — at a cantankerous 64 — probably never will.
"It's still up in the air," says Darren Woodson, a five-time Pro Bowl safety who played one season (2003) for Parcells. "I'm sure T.O. has been babied and pampered. But he can have 13 catches, 185 yards and two touchdowns in a game and he'll still be doing something wrong. He'll miss a block, jog off the line or run the wrong route, and Parcells will be in his face. I know it will happen.
"How well will T.O. handle it? Will he say, 'There's room for me to get better?' Or will he tank it?"
When he sat down for his news conference before the Cowboys' May minicamp, Parcells had to expect an onslaught of inquiries about his new wideout. But 35 consecutive questions about how he would handle T.O.? Nearly halfway through the examination, Parcells laid it out.
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