On With the Showoff

You’ve seen him dance on the Texas Stadium star, produce a Sharpie from his sock and stage an impromptu public workout in the driveway of his Philadelphia home.

But have you ever seen Terrell Owens play defense?

He did last week when a couple of Bay Area reporters approached him in the Eagle locker room, hoping to get his thoughts on today’s game against San Francisco, his former team.

Owens cupped his hands over his ears, leaned into his locker stall and softly sang, “La-la-la-la,” until the writers gave up and walked away.

No doubt there are some 49er defenders who would love to send Owens into la-la land when he ventures across the middle of the field. It’s a safe bet, too, that Owens intends to have a productive afternoon against the 49ers, who are fresh off a season-opening upset of St. Louis.

“Whenever you go up against your old club, you always want one of your biggest days,” Philadelphia linebacker Jeremiah Trotter told reporters. “You can expect T.O. to have 150 yards plus.”

The Eagles could use one of those games. Coming off their Week 1 loss Monday at Atlanta, they are looking to avoid their second 0-2 start in the last three seasons. Philadelphia has lost only eight regular-season games since 2003, but three of them followed a Monday night game.

This is the first time Owens will face the 49ers, with whom he played eight seasons and matched his jersey number with 81 touchdowns.

San Francisco linebacker Derek Smith, who recently referred to Owens as “a bad apple,” told reporters that No. 81 “probably gets in front of the mirror every day” to practice some type of touchdown celebration he plans to reveal against the 49ers. Smith told reporters last week that Owens would at times skip practice to play dominoes in the locker room or take a nap.

“When I first got here, he seemed more of a team guy,” Smith said. “But toward the end, he really fell off the deep end. He really was just kind of in it for himself.”

In this case, one team’s burden is another team’s booster fuel.

Said Eagle defensive lineman N.D. Kalu: “Anybody who has 14 touchdowns and 1,200 yards receiving, I don’t think he’s bringing the team down.”

The Eagles might not have said that over the summer, when Owens was demanding a new contract and was booted out of training camp for a week by fed-up Coach Andy Reid. Then, there was the standoff between Owens and quarterback Donovan McNabb, who briefly refused to speak to each other.

The big news in Philadelphia last week concerned whether the chest bruise McNabb suffered against the Falcons would keep him out of the starting lineup today. It won’t. Reid said McNabb, who practiced Friday, would start “unless something crazy happens.”

Even though the 49ers are coming off a 2-14 season, and the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl, this game might not be as lopsided as it appears. San Francisco has won its last five games in Philadelphia and is 9-2-1 there. But the 49ers, who for years were outstanding on the road, have lost 15 of 17 away from home.

To simulate the noise expected today at Lincoln Financial Field, 49er Coach Mike Nolan had giant speakers blast the sound of a cheering crowd throughout Thursday’s practice.

“It’s going to be loud out there,” Nolan said. “The biggest thing going on the road is fan involvement. That’s why I stress it so much when we’re at home.... You will get a few plays out of it if you do it right.”

Nolan assigned 6-foot-4 Marcus Maxwell to impersonate 6-3 Owens in practice. It’s typical for a team to use an impostor when preparing for a marquee player, and Maxwell enjoyed this week’s assignment in particular.

“T.O. is cocky and physical,” said Maxwell, a rookie practice-squad receiver from Oregon. “He’s been one of my favorite players who I mirrored myself on as far as on the field.”

As for the ground-breaking touchdown celebrations? If he had them, Maxwell wisely kept those to himself.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Good hands people

Terrell Owens was chosen in one of the best wide receiver drafts in history. Wide receivers drafted in 1996 with career receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns:

*--* Player Overall draft pick Career rec. Rec. yards TDS MARVIN HARRISON 19th 851 11,254 yards 99 TERRELL OWENS 89th 676 9,884 yards 95 KEYSHAWN JOHNSON 1st 678 8,982 yards 56 ERIC MOULDS 24th 598 8,320 yards 44 MUHSIN MUHAMMAD 43rd 584 7,810 yards 44 JOE HORN 135th 495 7,234 yards 52 AMANI TOOMER 34th 469 7,113 yards 37 TERRY GLENN 7th 464 6,682 yards 31

*--*

Source: Stats LLC