Long-running NFL feud fires up after one great’s shocking accusation

A long-running feud between two former superstar teammates has been thrust back into the limelight after a damning accusation.

Philadelphia Eagles receiver Terrell Owens at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 01, 2005. The Eagles play the /New /England /Patriots in Super Bowl on 6/2/05. (AP PicStephan/Savoia) profile sport o/seas gridiron logo logos media

Terrell Owens just levied a shocking new accusation in his 15-year feud with former Philadelphia Eagles teammate Donovan McNabb.

Despite McNabb’s repeated denials over the years, legend has it that he threw up in the huddle of Super Bowl XXXIX against the New England Patriots at the end of the 2004 season. Owens not only countered that other teammates tell him they saw it — he offered a reason for it.

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“I know there were teammates I talked to recently who said they saw him throw up in the huddle,” Owens said on Bleacher Report’s “Untold Stories” with Master Tesfatsion.

“I’ve talked to teammates since then and know for a fact that he was out the night before the biggest game pretty much of all of our careers there. There were people that saw him out and said he was drinking. I think that contributed to him throwing up in the huddle.”

McNabb threw three touchdowns and three interceptions in the 24-21 defeat. Partying the night before a Super Bowl is a path to infamy in the NFL.

T.O. had a broken leg and tore ligament in his ankle weeks prior to this Super Bowl performance... McNabb was hungover pic.twitter.com/A0uUcamvmq

— IB 🔌 THE GAMBLER (@incarceratedbob) December 30, 2020

Packers receiver Max McGee admitted years later that he scored the first touchdown in Super Bowl history playing with a hangover. Raiders offensive lineman Barret Robbins disappeared from the team hotel and went on a drinking binge in Mexico on Super Bowl eve just a few years before the Owens-McNabb incident. Falcons safety Eugene Robinson was busted for soliciting an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute the night before the big game.

McNabb and Owens have been at odds since they were teammates. Owens felt McNabb didn’t appreciate how he escalated the Eagles from years of playoff failures and wasn’t on his side against the organisation in a contract dispute. McNabb was the victim of a few not-so-veiled shots by Owens, who was later suspended for conduct detrimental to the team and released.

“Knowing all this information, I thought it was irresponsible, especially for somebody of his caliber and status and leader of the team,” said Owens, who went on to play three seasons with the rival Cowboys and finished out his career with the Bills and Bengals.

T.O. says he “knows for a fact” that Donovan McNabb was out drinking the night before the Eagles played in Super Bowl XXXIX 

New episode of “Untold Stories” with @MasterTes https://t.co/PZjCk9scHi pic.twitter.com/OS62ZgY2AY

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 30, 2020

McNabb was on “Untold Stories” earlier this year and called Owens a “major distraction” in 2005 when he was working out in front of his house for the media after he was sent home from training camp by then-coach Andy Reid.

Until then, Owens thought they had “squashed” the feud and were on cordial terms, but McNabb said, “I give him a nice peace sign and keep it moving. I respect his time, I love my time. There is no need to dust off things that happened in the past.”

Not good enough closure for Owens, who took a shot at the way McNabb finished his career on the bench with Washington.

“He don’t make me,” Owens said. “I’m in the Hall of Fame for what I’ve done and what I’ve accomplished.

“I appreciate the opportunity to have played with him. Check my stats before I got there and check my stats when I left. He is supposed to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league in his mind. You can’t go to Washington and not beat out Rex Grossman.”

Bonus cut with @donovanjmcnabb:

Donovan McNabb says he didn’t throw up at the Super Bowl, despite allegations from former Eagles teammates...including @terrellowens last night on Twitterpic.twitter.com/NLsSUmzsaN

— Master (@MasterTes) January 23, 2020

This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.