Michael Ventre

“Terrell Owens has finally pushed the Dallas Cowboys too far.”

That was the lead sentence in Sunday's Associated Press story about a Dallas Morning News report that the team had fined wide receiver Terrell Owens $9,500 for missing team meetings and rehab session.

It's the sort of achievement that is impossible to ignore.

I realize this is not a record. T.O. torched the Philadelphia Eagles’ organization from the moment he hired Drew Rosenhaus in April 2005 to re-do a contract he just got the previous year. That mark will stand alongside Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak as practically untouchable.

Maybe the category for this particular record should read, “Burning bridges so shortly after building them.”

And trust me. They will continue to burn, along with everything else that comes into contact with T.O.

To say that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and coach Bill Parcells are complete and utter fools for bringing this guy into their universe is redundant. I think the world realized — after Jones kowtowed to the demands of Rosenhaus and Owens that the NFL’s most infamous malcontent receive the kind of money they had been squawking about in Philly — that this was the end of the Cowboys’ organization as we know it. I believe everyone also knew that Owens would eventually bring about a premature retirement by Parcells, which is right around the corner.

I just think most folks surmised that even someone like T.O. with such a horrible track record in human relations would so quickly renege on his promise to be a better man and a better teammate. Gamblers who fancy the over/under and took T.O. and the under in terms of training camp days needed before erupting are popping champagne today.

THE T.O.-TUNA SHOW IN DALLAS   DISCUSS: What's Your take on T.O.? Owens 'ready to go,' likely will play Opinion: Cowboys should just cut him Ventre: T.O. meltdown coming fast Opinion: Tuna-T.O. showdown imminent Timeline: Owens' troubling track record

It’s only going to get worse.

T.O. has been completely worthless to the Cowboys thus far, unless they hope to sponsor him in the next Tour de France. He’s been on a stationary bike almost the whole time, working through a sore hamstring and fending off questions about when he is going to start earning his money.

So far, he has contributed nothing except provide distractions, and in that area he and the Cowboys are in first place with a comfortable lead. And this latest incident won’t teach him a lesson. Fining him will not serve as a shot across the bow at Camp T.O. to warn against any future misbehavior.

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T.O. doesn’t work that way. Instead, it will feed into his inherent need to rebel. It will also trigger the obligatory torrent of excuses from Rosenhaus, who will defend his client down to the last commission dollar. This isn’t a “Cut out the nonsense!” moment for Parcells and the Cowboys. This is a “Batten down the hatches!” alarm for anyone in and around the franchise. The sinking of the Titanic was actually more merciful, because it took longer and the victims could at least enjoy a bit more of life before their ultimate demise.

What continues to be hilarious is the comedy act of Parcells and Jones. (I list Parcells first because, in the spirit of Penn and Teller, he’s the one who has to talk about this more often.)

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Parcells keeps bristling whenever asked about T.O, making it sound as though reporters are the ones with an unnatural interest in Owens’ conduct. He needs to be reminded — and soon — that the media didn’t bring the circus to Dallas. The Cowboys did. So he shouldn’t be surprised when the populace fixates on the clowns.