“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
— Mahatma Gandhi.

“Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.”
— Paul Gauguin.

Michael Ventre

Gandhi was a revered spiritual and political leader whose belief in peaceful civil disobedience and devotion to the plight of the poor impacted millions of followers. But he wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in the NFL.

On the other hand, Gauguin — the noted French Post-Impressionist artist — might have gotten his name on some stadium’s ring of fame had he only been born 100 years later.

Revenge is sweet. Revenge is a dish best served cold. And revenge is as essential to professional football as shoulder pads.

Revenge isn’t always achieved, mind you. But the fact that it is being sought after is enough to add spice to any bubbling NFL brew.

As the 2006 season approaches, the most obvious example of one party seeking revenge on another involves none other than Terrell Owens, the Tony Soprano of wide receivers. On the surface, it appears to the uninitiated that T.O. has been preparing with his new club, the Dallas Cowboys, by bringing his sore hamstring along slowly on a stationary bike and by practicing with his teammates when he can.

That, unfortunately, is a predictable misread of the situation by naïve students of human nature. What T.O. has been obsessed with since being cast out in disgrace by the Philadelphia Eagles is revenge. Because he went from one NFC East rival to another, he has two chances at getting back at his former employers, Oct. 8 at Philly and then Christmas Day at home. So you can understand if he has to cut down on his practice time as a result.

It’s anyone’s guess what constitutes revenge in T.O.’s mind. Certainly it will involve a spectacular performance on the field. He’ll want the ball more than usual. He’ll play harder than ever.

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

But remember that this is a man who once signed an autograph in the end zone with a Sharpie, stomped on a team logo at midfield, borrowed pom-pons from a cheerleader, mocked Ray Lewis’ celebratory dance and hinted in a Playboy interview that Jeff Garcia was gay. Naturally, he’ll feel pressure to top all of that against the Eagles, and he won’t be satisfied until he administers the football equivalent of what Sonny Corleone got at the toll booth.

But T.O. is hardly the only revenge-minded individual entering the 2006 season.

For one, there’s Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who was regularly dissed by T.O. during the duo’s time together. Partly as the result of Owens’ recalcitrance, McNabb and the Eagles went into the dumper in 2005. McNabb tried his best to keep his mouth shut, although he slipped here and there, most notably when he told an ESPN interviewer that Owens’ attacks on him amounted to “black-on-black crime.”

Slide show   Life with T.O. See images of star's most controversial, notable moments of his NFL career

But the mere fact that McNabb launched that salvo indicates that revenge has been working on his brain like termites on a barn. For every needle that T.O. sticks into a McNabb voodoo doll, McNabb counters with two.

Then there’s Daunte Culpepper. At one time, he was a fixture in the Minnesota Vikings’ backfield. Then came the infamous boat trip. Other than the participants, no one really knows exactly what transpired during that party on the lake, but suffice to say it probably wasn’t the kind of affair in which the young men pin corsages on their dates.

The resulting mess made the Vikings seem like Caligula’s court. They say the quarterback always gets too much credit and too much blame; in this case he got both, depending on how you look at it. With Culpepper’s name sullied, he sought and received a trade to Miami.

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Before the ink dried on his contract with the Fins, Culpepper circled Nov. 19 on his “Machiavelli Day-By-Day” 2006 calendar. That’s when the Vikings come to Miami. Legend has it that a traditional Viking funeral involved placing the deceased on a boat with a dog at his feet and then setting it on fire. If I had to bet, I would say Culpepper has been reenacting this with miniatures in his bathtub.

One revenge scenario with much less vitriol involves Reggie Bush. OK, so he was drafted No. 2 overall instead of No. 1 because the Houston Texans decided they felt safer negotiating with and coming to terms with Mario Williams. And Bush’s Saints aren’t scheduled to play the Texans this year, so there is no opportunity for direct rubbing in faces.

But as the old saying goes, “Success is the best revenge.” If Bush has an eye-popping season and the Texans aren’t noticeably improved with Williams in their defense, the former Heisman winner will have achieved vengeance without any overt acts. And in a way, he has already stuck it to the team that jilted him. The Texans announced that their top running back, Domanick Davis, is out for the year with a knee injury.

Houston, you have a problem that could have been addressed on draft day. Reggie, you already have your revenge.

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