Terrell Owens is the smartest man in sports.

Who else is better at staying at the tip of everyone’s tongue than T.O? You say, “Oh, well I hate T.O. I hope he gets injured or I hope he messes up his team.” But I guarantee you still turn your eyes towards the TV every time his highlights come on or whenever they show him saying anything. For T.O., any press is good press, so he leads Sportscenter every night for something different. He doesn’t practice for a while, he says something about his team, he gets into a disagreement with his coach, he starts a fight, he overdoses on drugs (sometimes if he has a bad game, he really has to ratchet up the attention). While some might be planned and others not, it doesn’t matter, because he knows he has to stoke the fire just a twinge and he will be front and center every night. No matter what he does, at the end of the day, he is still the best wide receiver on the field at any given time. So what does he care?

Why do you think he has that sly little smile every time reporters talk to him about his latest antics? He loves it because he knows he’s got everyone wrapped around his finger. Take this week. First, he looses to his former team after his quaterback’s dreadful performance. So he comes back in the beginning of the week and questions why he is with the Cowboys and why his talents are being wasted. Then later in the week, he gets into a shouting match with his receivers coach.

He just hyped himself up for Sunday, when all the pregame shows led their programs with their latest “What did that crazy Terell Owens do this week” montage. All the talking heads then got to make extreme comments like “He’s a disgrace and should be kicked out of football” and pull all this “back when I was playing” bullshit and say what they would have done to T.O. The thing is, they love T.O. more than anyone. They get to get all fired up on air, come up with an outrageous soundbite about him, and rake in the viewer ratings.

So T.O. then comes out and shoves it in everyone’s face by scores 3 TDs in a Cowboys route. He backed up his talk, so now next week he can come out and say something else outrageous to even more fanfare. ESPN is, after all, the Entertainment SPorts Network. T.O. is giving them both the E and the SP. The next time he says something “controversial,” that smirk you see on his face is him laughing all the way to the bank. Endorsements, interviews, events, book deals, merchandise, notoriety, name recognition, merchandise…He is set for life.

Don’t be surprised to hear about at T.O. reality show or interview show on ESPN next year. It’s only the next most logical step if both Owens and ESPN really want to squeeze as much money out of this partnership as they can.

Trevor Timm is a Blast Magazine staff writer