Terrell Owens recalls being 'ignored' by Tom Brady

Did the GOAT give a Hall of Fame wide receiver the cold shoulder?

During a recent appearance on "The Bubba Dub Show" podcast, Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens shared how he tried to contact quarterback Tom Brady, then of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after wideout Antonio Brown walked away from the team during a game in January 2022.

"Tom Brady ignored me," Owens recalled, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "The year that AB went crazy...they just needed somebody to fill some holes with AB leaving at the receiver position."

There are reasons to believe Owens was serious about potentially catching passes thrown by Brady during that season's playoffs even though the receiver was 48 years old at the time and hadn't played in a meaningful game for over a decade. The Buccaneers were the reigning Super Bowl champions, and Owens retired without a championship ring in his personal trophy case.

Additionally, Owens revealed in December 2022 that he contacted San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York around that time about possibly coming out of retirement.

Owens said during the podcast chat he wanted "to come in and play third down and red zone situations" for Tampa Bay in January 2022. Brady clearly wasn't interested.

"This dude ignored me," Owens added about Brady. "It just shows you the lack of respect there, but then when they get in front of you they want to act like they respect you."

Without Owens or Brown, the Buccaneers earned a 31-15 wild-card playoff victory over the Philadelphia Eagles but then suffered a 30-27 divisional-round loss to the Los Angeles Rams after the Rams drove down the field for what became a walk-off game-winning field goal.

Smith wrote that Brady likely didn't respond to Owens' offer because the seven-time Super Bowl champion "didn’t want to waste time during playoff preparation talking to someone who had zero chance of making the roster." That's probably true, but it's nevertheless fun to think about what could have been had a 48-year-old version of Owens taken the field for the Buccaneers against the Rams.