Did Tom Brady reject Terrell Owens’ request to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021?

As one of the greatest pass catchers to ever play the Game, one would think that anyone would jump at the chance to play with Terrell Owens, but it seems that the legendary quarterback didn’t quite see it that way. The question is ‘Why?’

Terrell Owens claims Tom Brady blanked him

When Tom Brady rocked the NFL in 2020 with his decision to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the offseason, there was a domino effect. More specifically, several players centered on the Florida-based outfit, sensing - we can assume - an opportunity to win a title which they did. There was Rob Gronkowski who unretired to join his former New England Patriots teaMMAte and there was of course Leonard Fournette and the now infamous Antonio Brown, who rounded out an otherwise potent offense.

Yet, as we now know, it was not to last. Antonio Brown would have what we can only refer to as a breakdown the following seasons during a Week 17 win against the New York Jets, taking off his gear before literally running out of the stadium. We’ve not seen him on an NFL field since. The point is, a void was created and according to comments from Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens during a recent appearance on the “Bubba Dub Show”, he wanted to fill it. To that end, Owens claimed that he reached out to Tom Brady with the hope of getting an opportunity to offer cover for Brown’s absence in the postseason, but as he tells it, Brady never responded.

“Tom Brady ignored me,” Owens said. “The year that AB went crazy...they just needed somebody to fill some holes with AB leaving at the receiver position. I reached out to him through Randy [Moss] and some other people, just to come in and play third down and red zone situations. This dude ignored me. It just shows you the lack of respect there, but then when they get in front of you they want to act like they respect you.”

It should be said, with all due respect, that Owens would have been 48 years old at the time of this request which is to say not in his prime. On the other hand, we are talking about a player who still ranks third on the all-time receiving list and who by all accounts, was still very much in shape at that time. Did Brady and the Bucs miss out on an opportunity and could what turned out to be a less than sensational end to Brady’s career have gone differently? We can’t say, but the idea of Brady throwing to Owens is something to think about.