Still Wading In The T.O. Morass

You know, it's strange how, after the frenzy of Terrell Owens-related madness yesterday, it all seems to have died down today. It never fails to bewilder us that once an athlete denies something, mainstream reporters just kind of say, "OK, well, must not be true, then!" and move on. There seems to be a sense of shame, almost, for the overkill of yesterday.

And we don't understand it, because there's still every reason to be skeptical of the statements from both Owens and his publicist Kim Etheredge yesterday. Whether or not it was a misunderstanding or an actual suicide attempt, the evidence continues to mount that the "allergic reaction" theory is specious, at best.

In addition to the public report that plainly states that Etheredge was hollering about depression and suicide, there's now word that Owens had been actively distraught in recent days. Why? Well, his fiancee broke up with him this week. No, seriously: She really did.

"That's been coming on forever," [the trainer] said of the breakup. "She's not a bad girl. She's cool, she's fine. He said, 'Can I take a break from the engagement?' And she said, 'No, let's just put a stop to it.' And that was a complete surprise to Terrell."

To be fair, the trainer says he doesn't believe Owens tried to kill himself. But, uh ... why is no one talking about this? That certainly seems like something worth bringing up, right?

That said, if Owens did actually try to kill himself, we hope his suicide note looked like this.

Trainer: Owens Had Issues With Son, Fiancee [The Fanhouse] Terrell Owens Suicide Note [College Humor] The Human Being Vs. The Publicist [Deadspin]

(UPDATE: How amused are we by the Dallas Police Association's response to Etheredge? Here it is:

"The officers reacted because they were called to this location to do this job. Now they're being put under a microscope by some fancy little football person. Give me a break. Those officers are 10 times better than this man."

Fancy little football person! Ah, Texas.)