Posted on 09/27/2006 7:36:05 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
Controversial Dallas Player Tells Authorities He Overdosed On Painkillers
(CBS News) DALLAS Controversial Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens has told police he tried to kill himself by overdosing on pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.
A Dallas police report released Wednesday morning said Owens told his friend "that he was depressed."
The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that (his) prescription pain medication was empty and observed (Owens) putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.
The friend attempted to pry them out with her fingers, then was told by Owens that before this incident he'd taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied. Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time (he) stated, `Yes.'"
CBS affiliate KTVT in Dallas-Fort Worth and other local media had reported that Owens had been taken to Baylor Medical Center Tuesday night, possibly for an allergic reaction to pain medication he is taking for his broken hand.
According to the Dallas Police Department incident report, Owens told police he took more than 30 pills in a suicide attempt.
Sources tell KTVT that Owens was taken to Baylor Hospital by Dallas Fire Rescue and that emergency room doctors attempted to induce vomiting.
Baylor Hospital officials continue to deny Owens received treatment. However, federal privacy laws allow people to block their name from being released.
"This is not serious," Owens' publicist Kim Etheridge had said in Wednesday's online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Two weeks ago Owens broke his hand during a football game against the Washington Redskins.
Earlier Tuesday, Parcells said he expected Owens to rejoin his teammates at practice Wednesday and would start Sunday in Tennessee if he proves he can play.
"It's just, can he withstand the pain of catching the ball?" Parcells said. "When he can stand it, he can play."
The Cowboys had a bye last weekend, so Owens has yet to miss a game because of this injury. He's repeatedly said he'll play Oct. 8, when he gets to face his former team, the Eagles, in Philadelphia.
Owens chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room Tuesday afternoon and seemed fine.
Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.
When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill — who mostly deals with troubled players — said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.
Dallas police officials said they were planning a news conference, but did not immediately release a time. A hospital spokeswoman said early Wednesday there was no patient registered as Terrell Owens, although federal privacy laws allow people to block their name from being released.
Owens' publicist and agent, and the Cowboys, did not return repeated calls from The Associated Press. No teammates or Cowboys officials were seen entering the hospital late Tuesday night.
ping
Some guys will do anything to get out of a contract.
On the field he's a talented reciever, off the field (including sidelines), he's a train wreck !!!
If he does play against the Eagles on October 8th, I hope that Eagles fans show their wonted concern and compassion and politely refrain from mentioning the incident.
If at first you don't succeed....
...it's all the Tuna's fault, he won't let me act like a 6 year old, I need the attention, I need the spotlight,.... I find it interesting he didn't do it while he was alone. That could have been fatal.
Doogle
Sad, if true.
I'm glad someone finally posted this!
Have Helen Thomas do a pole dance for him.
Cover up story for an illegal drug over dose. A suicide attempt won't invalidate a contract but illegal dug use will.
ahhhh never mind i forgot
i am dumb he is cowboy
i am turning red now
The two biggest sports-related stories here in Dallas over the 24 hours concern two people who couldn't have been more different, Terrell Owens and Byron Nelson.
Jerry Jones needs to fire whoever it was who did the psychological profile on Owens before they signed him.
Yeah right!!!
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