TERRELL OWENS Another controversy for volatile wideout

Owens claims Ozzie Newsome made an "offensive" racial comment.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Terrell Owens claimed he has turned the page on his brief stint with Baltimore. Still, it seems the end of the latest drawn-out chapter between the Eagles receiver and the Ravens has yet to be written.
Owens said Wednesday that it was an "offensive" racial comment by Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome -- along with not wanting to play with Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller and a desire to play with Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb -- that convinced him to spurn an off-season deal to Baltimore.
In his recent autobiography, Owens wrote Newsome told the wide receiver's agent that "he was a black man from Alabama just like TO" and "that sometimes a black man's gotta be slapped."
"Initially, I was kind of stunned by it," Owens said. "My agent was kind of reluctant to tell me about it at the time. What a lot of people don't know, and I guess I'll let it out now, is that was pretty much one of the main reasons I didn't want to go there."
Asked about the statement, Newsome told The Baltimore Sun for Tuesday's edition, "Please, why should I respond to that? I did tell TO that he should check with the veterans we brought in over the years. I told him to call Rod Woodson, Shannon Sharpe, Michael McCrary and Sam Adams, and they will let him know how we treat veterans here. I'm not talking any more about it."
Another controversy
Owens has blasted former teammate Jeff Garcia, danced on the Dallas Cowboys' star and now this, but he seemed perplexed as to why hot topics always arise as he is preparing to play those respective teams.
He blamed reporters Wednesday, saying it's "the media's way of trying to stir something" and that he knew, "they'd try and find something."
Finding something controversial about Owens is like trying to find a Space Needle in a haystack, especially when he makes news without any prompting from reporters. Owens wondered why this particular excerpt was of any consequence only days before playing Newsome's Ravens.
"Why didn't they bring it up last week or the week before?" Owens said. "The book's been out. It's not my reason to sell the book. The book is going to sell itself. If I was trying to use that quote to sell the book, I would have started the first chapter out with it."
End of the story
Now he wants to end this one.
"A lot of people are looking for me to fail," said Owens, who has become an instant fan favorite with his TD celebration antics. "They're looking for some type of distraction."
Owens proclaimed he would rather do his talking -- or is that writing, considering he once yielded a Sharpie after scoring a touchdown? -- on the field.
After a paperwork goof prevented Owens from becoming a free agent, Baltimore acquired the outspoken receiver from the 49ers. But Owens protested the trade, refused to show up for a physical and insisted he wanted to play in Philadelphia.
The union then filed a grievance on Owens' behalf to make him a free agent and the three teams agreed to a trade before an arbitrator could rule on the case.
When the two teams played in the preseason, McNabb and Owens connected on an 81-yard TD pass on Philadelphia's first play.
The trade has worked out well for Owens, who has a team-best 34 catches for 596 yards and eight touchdowns. Meanwhile, Baltimore is 31st in the league in total offense.