"There are many great things about Terrell Owens, from his athletic ability to his sense of theater. As a football player, however, Owens has never reached the essence of excellence.

At this point, he'll probably never get there.

The debate over whether Owens will return this season after quietly having ACL surgery in April is largely irrelevant. Sure, some desperate team might take a chance on Owens, particularly as that yet-to-be-determined organization sorts through all its options once the lockout ends. But in Hollywood terms, Owens has become that once-fascinating star who has faded into "special guest star status." He's like Shannen Doherty or Christian Slater or all those has-beens who rotated into the various Quinn Martin Productions; people who seemed headed for something great until it was discovered that there simply wasn't much to them.

That's where Owens, who has worked his way down the NFL food chain through the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals the past two years, is in his career. In five to 10 years, he's going to be sitting next to Jose Canseco on the Flavor Flav Talk Show, discussing his upcoming MMA bout.

You can hear it now rolling off Owens' tongue: "For me, it's all about the love of competition. That's what I was always about, competing. Working my tail off every day to destroy that guy across from me. That's what I'm going to do in this bout next Saturday in Trenton, New Jersey.""