AROUND THE NFL News & notes

SAN FRANCISCO 49ers

Owens returns to roots for Hall of Fame ring

SANTA CLARA, CALIF.

Terrell Owens came back to his roots to get his Hall of Fame ring.

Owens was set to be presented with the ring during a halftime ceremony during Thursday night’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders.

Owens spent the first eight seasons with the 49ers, establishing himself as one of the best players in the game during his tenure in San Francisco.

“This is awesome,” Owens said before the game, while wearing his gold Hall of Fame jacket. “This is an opportunity to give something to the fans. Ever since I left in 2003 and went on and did some great things, but this is where it started my first eight years of my career.”

Owens was voted into the Hall of Fame earlier this year but skipped the induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio, to hold his own celebration at his college in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Owens said he was upset at the voters who made him wait three years for the honor, saying he believed they brought in off-field issues into their deliberations instead of focusing solely on what Owens did as a player.

“No regrets at all,” Owens said about his decision to skip the ceremony. “If anybody knows who Terrell Owens is outside the media portrayal of me throughout the course of my career. They know what I did. I stand by what I did.”

OBITUARY

Former SI writer Zimmerman dies at 86

NOBLESVILLE, IND.

Paul Zimmerman, the longtime Sports Illustrated NFL writer known as “Dr. Z” for his analytical approach, died Thursday. He was 86.

NBC Sports football writer Peter King confirmed Zimmerman’s death. King worked with Zimmerman at Sports Illustrated, and completed Zimmerman’s autobiography, “Dr. Z: The Lost Memoirs of an Irreverent Football Writer.”

Zimmerman had three strokes in 2008 that ended his writing career after 29 years as Sports Illustrated’s lead pro football writer.

“When I started covering football in 1984, he was Peter Gammons and Bob Ryan and Tex Maule rolled into one,” King said. “His football knowledge was peerless. He knew the technical side and loved it, and he loved the personal side, too.”

Zimmerman briefly played college football at Stanford and Columbia, and covered the New York Jets for the New York Post for 13 years. He also worked for the Sacramento Bee, New York Journal-American and the New York World-Telegram & Sun before joining SI in 1979. His “A Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football” was published in 1970, and revised in 1984 as “The New Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football.”

Zimmerman was president of the Pro Football Writers of America during the 1982 season. He received the PFWA’s highest honor, the Dick McCann Award, in 1996 for a long and distinguished contribution through coverage. In 2014, the PFWA instituted the Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman Award, given for lifetime achievement as an assistant coach in the NFL.

MIAMI DOLPHINS

Gase offers passionate defense of Tannehill

DAVIE, FLA.

Miami Dolphins coach Adam Gase is offering a passionate defense of Ryan Tannehill, saying his beleaguered quarterback has showed improvement that continued into the start of this season.

Tannehill will miss his fourth consecutive game Sunday against the New York Jets because of an injury to his throwing shoulder. Replacement Brock Osweiler has gone 1-2 as the starter but has played well, providing fresh fodder for Tannehill’s many critics.

Gase dismissed those detractors in the media and elsewhere who argue it’s time for Miami (4-4) to find another quarterback. Gase said that in his first season as Miami’s coach in 2016, Tannehill made progress, and then played even better in the first three games this year.

Associated Press