Compare these two– Terrell Owens and David Ortiz. I don’t mean so much as players who can and/or do produce, although that figures into it. I mean as people who have a job to do.

After being fined $9,500 by the Dallas Cowboys for being late for a team meeting, Owens claimed he merely innocently slept in. He said that everyone sleeps in and that he will probably do it again. He claimed that he was not sending coach Parcells a message.

Now consider David Ortiz. Big Papi left the skidding Boston Red Sox yesterday indefinitely. He’s gone back to Boston to be examined again for an irregular heartbeat. Here’s a guy at the peak of his output who would do anything to help his team. He could be seriously ill or he may just need some medical attention and come back. Nobody knows.

Now compare them. You’ve got two talented players, both go-to game breakers and winners. Owens doesn’t appreciate the talent God gave him. He hasn’t practiced, he doesn’t give a whit about the team and he has no compunction about taking money under false pretenses. Ortiz loves the game. He has worked hard and continues to do so to become the player he is, he’s a team guy all the way and he has more than earned his salary.

I don’t wish ill on anyone. But maybe Owens, just for a day, should be in Ortiz’s shoes right now. Maybe he’d finally appreciate what he has. Of course that’s an impossibility– a person like Owens could never fit in the shoes of a man like Ortiz.

The bottom line– look for the antics of Owens and the untimely ill health of Ortiz to hurt each of their teams. One player won’t care; the other will simply want to be back with his team, playing the game that he loves.

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