Aug 5, 2018
Owens works out for Riders' Jones day after Hall of Fame induction
Terrell Owens worked out for Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Chris Jones on Sunday, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press, which is just one day after Owens was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
TSN.ca Staff
Terrell Owens was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, but that isn’t stopping him from trying to make a return to the sport.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that the 44-year-old worked out for Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones on Sunday. According to the Times, Owens ran pass routes for more than an hour with former Central Florida quarterback Justin Holman throwing the ball. The tryout took place at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
“He’s a physical presence and now it’s a matter of seeing if he’s in football shape,” Jones said after the workout. “He and I are going to speak and see how he wants to handle it, because he has some football shape stuff he’s going to have to get into.
“He caught the football well today and he got in and out of his breaks decent, but football wise, he’s got a ways to go with his conditioning.”
Owens declined to attend Saturday’s Hall of Fame ceremony, instead choosing to hold his own event at the university and in the process becoming the first living inductee to skip the Canton festivities.
"I know I'm truly blessed and I can still play the game," Owens said at the conclusion of Sunday’s workout. "What I did out there today is just a small little snippet of what I can do. I just appreciate coach for the opportunity. I guess he wanted to assess and see where I am physically.”
Owens has not appeared in a regular season games since finishing the 2010 season with the Cincinnati Bengals, his first and only season with the club.
Prior to that, he spent one season with the Buffalo Bills, three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, two years with the Philadelphia Eagles and the first eight seasons of his NFL career as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, the team that selected him 89th overall in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft.
Owens was originally on the negotiation list of the Edmonton Eskimos, but he activated the 10-day window in which the team has to either offer him a contract or release his rights.
The Eskimos chose to renounce the wide receiver making him eligible to sign with any of the other teams in the CFL.