Eagles’ Letter To Terrell Owens May Precede Grievances

Eagles Send Owens Letter Outlining Differences

The Eagles confirmed that they sent a letter to WR Terrell Owens “detailing his alleged misdeeds during his 10 days at training camp,” according to Bob Brookover of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. One source said that the Eagles did not want the letter “to become public,” and that it was Owens’ decision “to make it public yesterday on ESPN” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/16). Eagles President Joe Banner said that the letter was “typical documentation in such employee management disagreements.” Also in Philadelphia, Les Bowen notes the team “would want to document their differences with Owens in case a grievance were to be filed by either party.” For the Eagles, a grievance would be the first step in attempting to recover up to $1.87M of Owens’ signing bonus (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 8/16).

NUMBERS GAME: SI’s Peter King called the claim by Owens’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, that his client is not among the ten highest-paid WRs in the NFL “nonsense.” Rosenhaus is considering Owens’ $3.25M salary this season “without the approximately $16[M] in bonus money due Owens in the first three years of the contract.” King: “I haven’t heard Owens say much about union issues, and I don’t see Owens up front with other players/leaders like [Bills CB & NFLPA President] Troy Vincent on the [CBA]. ... If you don’t like the system, work to change it” (SI.com, 8/15). Banner, appearing on ESPN’s preseason broadcast of Eagles-Steelers last night, said of Owens wanting to renegotiate his contract, “There has to be some integrity when people do business with the Eagles, to know that we mean what we say and we say what we mean. We believe it is a fair contract” (ESPN, 8/15).

THE MEDIATOR: Rush Limbaugh, who resigned from ESPN in ’03 after making a controversial and racial statement about Eagles QB Donovan McNabb, wants Owens and McNabb to “settle their differences on his radio show.” Limbaugh on his show said, “I could bring these two guys together. I’ve been there, folks, and I could do this, and I’m serious in my desire to do it” (AP, 8/13).

TAXING ISSUES: Philadelphia City Council member Frank DiCicco sent a letter to the city’s Department of Licenses & Inspections “requesting an investigation into the business license and tax status” of Rosenhaus. Philadelphia city code states that anyone conducting business in the city “must obtain a business privilege license and pay taxes” (Shannon Ryan, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/16).