ESPN will open its Monday Night Football schedule with one of the many objects of its obsession: Terrell Owens.
The Buffalo Bills, featuring Owens, will take on the New England Patriots in the first Monday Night Football game of the season. The game will be the first of an ESPN doubleheader, with the second game featuring the Chargers playing the Raiders.
This will be the third game the Bills have played on Monday Night Football since ESPN began airing games in 2006; the team played one MNF game in each of the past two seasons.
It seems likely that ESPN will have more Bills games on the schedule this season, thanks to the presence of Owens. In recent years, ESPN has been virtually obsessed with Owens, with the network giving blanket coverage to events such as his ‘suicide attempt’ and gossip about his clashes with his now former Cowboys teammates.
Owens may very well be ESPN’s anti-Favre. Like the now-retired Brett Favre, Owens receives almost round-the-clock attention from ESPN during football season. Unlike Favre, who was the beneficiary of near fawning by analysts such as Tony Kornheiser, much of the attention directed Owens’ way is negative — for example, ESPN analyst Cris Carter expressed his desire to put a bullet in Owens last year.
Owens will not be the only story during the game, as Patriots quarterback Tom Brady may make his return to the team after missing most of last season. There is little doubt that the star QB, who like Owens has been the recipient of borderline excessive coverage by ESPN, will be a major topic of conversation.
With the two big names taking center stage, one story ESPN may decline to cover obsessively is the game itself.
