Eagles Bench Owens for Season

Deactivation Will Follow Suspension

Pro Bowl wide receiver Terrell Owens will not play again for the Philadelphia Eagles this season after he was suspended yesterday for three additional games for conduct detrimental to the team. Following the suspension, Eagles Coach Andy Reid said Owens will be placed on the inactive list for the final five regular season games.

"This decision is a result of a large number of situations that accumulated over a long period of time," Reid said during a news conference at the team's Philadelphia headquarters. "He's been warned repeatedly about the consequences of his actions. We gave Terrell every opportunity to avoid this situation."

Reid initially suspended Owens on Saturday, and the wide receiver missed Sunday night's 17-10 loss to the Washington Redskins, the first game of a maximum four-game suspension allowed by league rules. The move leaves the struggling Eagles (4-4) in greater danger of becoming the fifth consecutive Super Bowl loser to have a losing record the following season.

Owens said in an interview with ESPN last week that the Eagles would have been undefeated this year if Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers was their starting quarterback. He also complained that the Eagles organization did not go out of its way to recognize his 100th career touchdown reception during a game against San Diego on Oct. 23.

On Wednesday, Owens got into a scuffle with former Pro Bowl defensive lineman Hugh Douglas, now working in the Eagles' front office, in the team's training room. Douglas had questioned the severity of an ankle injury Owens claimed to have incurred against the Denver Broncos and the two had to be separated by teammates. Owens reportedly then went into the locker room and challenged any other players who had been talking about him behind his back.

Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, said the union immediately will file a grievance on Owens's behalf with the NFL Management Council and hopes to have a hearing scheduled with a non-injury grievance arbitrator within the next seven days.

Unless his grievance is upheld, Owens would lose about $800,000 for the games he misses because of the suspension. But he will be paid for the final five games.

"I know they expect us to appeal and we will appeal," Upshaw said. "Under the collective bargaining agreement, the maximum for conduct detrimental is four weeks without pay. We think [not bringing him back after the suspension] is excessive. We don't know what his contract says in terms of incentives and things like that. We'll say [in the hearing], if you don't want him around, then cut him. He has incentives that he'll miss out on if he's not playing.

"This is beyond where Terrell Owens is. This affects all our players. It's why we have an issue with the language in these contracts. Things we're able to gain in collective bargaining, some clubs are finding a way to undermine them. That's also what this is all about."

After reading an initial statement on Owens's suspension yesterday, Reid said he would not answer any questions on the team's action.

"The league was notified by the NFLPA that they will be grieving our right to take this action," Reid said. "Therefore there is nothing more that I can stay at this point. I don't want to bring any other players into this. It's my decision. I don't want to get into the T.O. situation. . . . I believe truly that it's a team sport. I expect guys to play together and support each other. We took a step forward as a team yesterday and I expect it to continue the rest of the year."