Buffalo may not be Dallas, but Terrell Owens won’t be shying away from the limelight with his new VH1 reality series set to air in late July

SCOTT JACOBS

It’s amazing that Terrell Owens has never had his own reality TV show.  But when you consider that his football career has basically been one big soap opera, maybe he never really needed one.  The pushups in his driveway while his agent robotoically chimed “no comment,” the summers of T.O. love that ESPN cameras devoted, the decrying of former team-mate Jeff Garcia as gay, and the constant Donovan McNabb bashing, well let’s just say it all added up to one ridiculous little platter for the world to chew on.  That’s basically what a reality TV show is right?

So it seems only fitting, and typical of T.O. that on the downside of what has been a whacky, productive, and very dramatic career, the legendary talent and even more memorable ego would make one last reach out to the people that made him larger than life: citizens of planet earth.

Starting in July, your weekly dose of T.O. may no longer come via ESPN.  Thanks to a new reality TV show with VH1, Owens will have a new home on your television to go along with his new home on the football field.  Owens scrutinized divorce (well, cut actually) from the Cowboys was well documented, and his signing with the small market, desperate for press Buffalo Bills has been thoroughly dissected.  So what’s left?  Seeing all the madness, edited for your viewing pleasure, play out in neatly assorted episodes.

(No word yet on what the name of the show will be, though I have a hunch ESPN might have some beef were the name to be T.O. Center, which is what Sportscenter was a handful of years ago one summer).

The craziest part?  I think I’ll watch it, or at least give it a fair shot.  With Brett Favre once again hogging every sports channel where they even mention the word football, I’ve become so sick of the obviously washed up quarterback and his 345 unretirements that T.O. in comparison almost comes across as a good samaritan.  Which he has been this off-season and with good reason.  Despite his talent– even at the age of 35 he can still play–Owens’ act has wore thin with three NFL teams, and opportunity number four could be his last.  Make it should.  But with the Raiders still in the league (do they still count as a pro team?) it’s hard to say that a failed stint with the Bills could be his final strike.

But enough about that.  This is T.O.’s shot to resurrect his image, and maybe even make amends for some of the fans he’s alienated over the years with his selfishness and petty behavior.  Maybe this show can display Owens as more then just a me-first receiver who just wants to milk the last 30 seconds of fame he has left in his body. Maybe this show can portray a lighter side of T.O., a funnier side, a caring side, and a relate-able side.

Whatever the case may be, filming for the Buffalo portion of the show starts this Sunday, precisely one day before the Bills open mini-camp (ahem, T.O. Awareness Week).  Interestingly enough shooting for the show began the week Owens was cut from Dallas, leaving me to wonder aloud if T.O. actually staged his exit, you know, for the cameras.  Okay, I wasn’t serious about the last part, at least I don’t think I was.

You know the Bills have to be loving this too. For a team that went 0-6 within their own division last year, erasing a 4-0, and 5-1 start, Buffalo is relevant again.  For now at least.  And so is T.O.  So maybe this is a match made in heaven, or maybe this is a nightmare just waiting to be written.  Whatever happens, starting in July we can watch the drama unfold.

T.O.’s getting a reality show.  A real one too.  Sports purists run for cover while you still can.

Photo: AP

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