By Zack Cimini

They?re different sports, but Grant Hill would tell Terrell Owens to sit out the Super Bowl, it isn?t worth jeopardizing your future. Who can forget when Grant Hill finally got the Detroit Pistons to the playoffs four or five years ago, and fought through an ankle injury throughout the playoffs? He played phenomenal but the pressure and additional strain he added to his ankle, setback, delayed, and almost ended his career. It took countless efforts to finally get back to the level he is at now.

Just like Hill, Owens was the main reason for their respective teams success in the regular season. When Owens injured his ankle, his doctors and himself knew that there was a slim possibility in being ready for the Super Bowl. He can take all the pain shots before the game, and be on the ultimate adrenaline rush, and still there is no possible way he?ll be ready. You can?t bump up an eight to ten week healing process by three to four weeks. There is a reason why a team doctor sets a recovery period, and that?s because there is no miracle overnight healing program, it?s a process that is called rest.

Let?s say Owens is at around 70 percent. In all honesty that takes away anything he can do. An athlete could play at that percentage in almost every other position except receiver, because they don?t have to cover the entire field. A quarterback could become a pocket passer, and an offensive lineman could utilize their strength over their foot speed. No matter what though, a receiver?s sole goal every snap is to push as hard as possible off the line of scrimmage, and make great cuts down the field. A receiver though needs to be able to run at full speed, or they become an easy guard by any cornerback. Why do you think a receiver is hampered by a hamstring injury for an overly extended period of time?

Even Randy Moss couldn?t shake off a minor ankle injury a few weeks ago. In the wild card round he suffered an ankle injury, and it hurt his play noticeably against the Eagles. His speed wasn?t there to get his big play separation that that the Vikings count on.
There is no doubt that Terrell Owens will play, but the question is how much? It?d be safe to say that Owens will be limited to third downs, and red zone possessions. That would be a great diversion for the Eagles, and would play into the hands of Chad Lewis and Freddie Mitchell.

Using Owens as a starter though would be a huge mistake. He?d be limiting the Eagles offense when Todd Pinkston or Freddie Mitchell could be making plays. Both the Patriots and Eagles have one goal and mind, and that is controlling the clock. With that in mind, the receivers are not going to be the main objective of this game. In fact, the only time we should hear from a receiver is on a big play, from being setup by the run.

Lets hope that Owens ends his season with a prognosis of still being on a correct recovery schedule. His off-season doesn?t need to be a nightmare, and hopefully he?ll let his body be the main factor in his decision and not his mind.