Owens: ‘I Was Praying to God’

Terrell Owens, insisting he was only “praying to God,” said there was nothing wrong with his controversial touchdown celebrations in Dallas.

Owens, San Francisco’s top receiver, also feels 49er Coach Steve Mariucci bowed to media pressure in suspending him for one game.

“I would apologize to a specific person if I offended anybody,” Owens said. “I really felt like I didn’t do anything wrong.”

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Owens said he took his suspension “like a man,” but that he didn’t agree with Mariucci’s decision.

Owens was fined a week’s salary and suspended for Sunday’s game against Arizona by Mariucci on Monday. He will lose $24,294 and won’t be allowed to practice or meet with the team until next week.

“It makes me feel like this was a classless act,” Owens said. “Like President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, that was a classless act, and he didn’t even get impeached for it. This is not comparable.”

After both of his touchdowns in the 41-24 victory at Texas Stadium, Owens sprinted to midfield and celebrated on the Cowboys’ star logo. His second trip to midfield drew the ire of Dallas safety George Teague, who leveled Owens and sparked a heated confrontation.

Owens received a taunting penalty and Teague was ejected.

“I know what I was doing,” Owens said. “I was praying to God. That was no act of taunting.”

Mariucci banned Owens from team activities for a week, saying Owens’ actions threatened “the integrity of the game.” Owens put part of the blame on the negative reactions his actions drew from media observers.

“I think Coach Mariucci felt the media persuasion,” he said. “I think he let the TV comments [affect his decision]. Coach knows how I play. He knows how hard I play.”

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For the second week in a row, the NFL apologized to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A week ago, after a loss to the Cleveland Browns, the league acknowledged the Steelers should have gotten an extra five seconds after quarterback Kent Graham was sacked late in the fourth quarter. This week, Coach Bill Cowher said the NFL acknowledged referee Walt Coleman should have granted Pittsburgh a touchdown after reviewing a play in a 23-20 loss to Tennessee.

“It should have been a touchdown,” Cowher said. “That’s great to know.”

On the final play of the third quarter, Graham threw a 17-yard pass to Hines Ward, who was ruled down at the Tennessee one. Cowher challenged the call, and Coleman ruled the replay was inconclusive, costing the Steelers a timeout as well as the score.

The loss of the timeout came into play when, on the Steelers’ final drive, Pittsburgh used its final timeout before Kris Brown missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt.

“We would have had another timeout at the end of the game,” Cowher said. “There are a lot of things that could have taken place.”

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Cincinnati defensive end Vaughn Booker and center Rich Braham are expected to miss at least several more weeks because of injuries. Booker fainted with 1:54 remaining in the Bengals’ 13-0 loss at Jacksonville on Sept. 17. He has been sidelined since then while the Bengals try to determine why he collapsed. Braham has been out because of persistent swelling and soreness in his right knee. He is scheduled to have surgery Wednesday to clean out the knee. He is expected to miss three to four weeks. . . . Chicago left tackle Blake Brockermeyer was released from the hospital, where he had been receiving intravenous antibiotics since Thursday for a skin infection on his right arm. Brockermeyer might play Sunday against Green Bay. . . . Safety Greg Jackson, who requested his release from San Diego during training camp, was re-signed by the team. Safety Jason Perry was placed on injured reserve. . . . The Seattle Seahawks signed kicker Rian Lindell to replace Kris Heppner, who was released.