Column: Oh T.O., what now?

By Jon Gluskin

With bling, Escalades and women overflowing, it’s safe to say professional athletes live in their own worlds.

This is probably why I’ve never been able to understand them through their sound bytes and actions that leave us speechless.

From Randy Moss telling reporters he doesn’t write checks but instead pays in “straight cash, homey,” to Ron Artest running into the stands looking for anybody to punch, there are times when it’s not even worth trying to figure out what is going on in the bizarre mind of the athlete.

If it were true that athletes live in their own worlds, Terrell Owens would be the leader (Moss would be second in command).

Owens is a character who does some things that make you love him. He does some things that make you hate him. He does a lot of wacky things.

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Of all his antics, the latest stint he’s pulling might be the most mind-boggling. Last season, Owens was traded to the Baltimore Ravens but didn’t want to the play there. He complained to the NFL, which eventually nixed the trade.

As everyone knows, he ended up a Philadelphia Eagle and had a spectacular season (77 rec., 1200 yds., 14 TDs). The 14 scores set an Eagles record. He broke his leg toward the end of the regular season, but played in the Super Bowl and contributed with one of the gutsiest performances in sports history, catching nine passes for 122 yards.

Before last season, Terrell Owens signed a contract for seven years, worth about $49 million with a $10.3 million signing bonus.

Now he has recently hired a new agent and is begging the Eagles to restructure his contract.

He just doesn’t get it.

Yes, Owens had an incredible season – not one member of the Eagles organization could dispute this fact.

Yes, Owens wants to be paid like any premium player would.

Yes, Owens deserves to be paid like any premium player would.

Yes, Owens is not getting paid as much as the premium players do.

But, T.O., you signed the contract.

A contract is a legally binding agreement. When you sign your name, you are making an agreement to earn a given amount of money.

Owens has no right to expect the Eagles to restructure his contract, and they shouldn’t. He has gotten everything he’s wanted so far, but it’s about time someone or some team makes a stand.

Owens has six years left on his contract and if Year One of the contract was a sign of what’s to come, the Eagles came away with a bargain and Owens will be worth every penny.

T.O. is someone who’s bragged to the world how good he is, so shouldn’t he have known when he signed the contract that he should have gotten more?

Because of the way the trade went down with Philadelphia, I know he had to settle for less, but when you say you don’t want to play for a team and basically demand to be traded, settling for less money is the least you can do.

This is where the world of athletes differs from the world of everybody else. Not only are athletes paid like no other profession, but even with these monstrous sums of money, some still complain they need more.

Could you ever see a surgeon demanding to restructure his salary because he had a 100 percent success rate in the past 12 months?

How about a lawyer begging for a new salary after she won a huge case?

It just doesn’t happen in the real world. A contract is a contract, and you follow it.

I’m actually a big fan of the flamboyant Owens. I love his touchdown celebrations and I love his arrogance, but this is just unacceptable.

It should be of no shock to anybody that Owens has been a no-show at mini-camp. There are even rumors that he could sit out the entire season. He’s trying to get his point through to the Eagles that he needs more money.

After all, he has a family to feed.