[7] A six-time Pro Bowl and five-time first-team All-Pro selection, Owens also created a significant amount of controversy during his professional career and attracted attention for his flamboyant touchdown celebrations.

[13] Owens did not start on his high school football team until his junior year, when one of his teammates missed a game due to illness.

Having gained respect in the NCAA, Owens faced double coverage more frequently during his senior year, and was limited to 43 receptions for 667 yards and one touchdown.

Despite this, Young kept throwing to Owens and he redeemed himself by catching the game-winning touchdown (immortalized by the impassioned game call of 49ers radio play-by-play announcer Joe Starkey) for a 30–27 comeback victory.

[34] The following week, Owens was held to four catches for 35 yards in a 31–6 to the soon-to-be Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

[41] After the Eagles defeated the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game, Owens defied the advice of his doctors and played in Super Bowl XXXIX.

However, the contract was heavily back-loaded, and while outlets like Sports Illustrated touted the $49 million figure to mock Owens for wanting more,[46] the money guaranteed to him was under the annual average for a top-tier wide receiver.

[55] During an interview with college student journalist Graham Bensinger the next day, Owens made several comments that Eagles fans perceived as verbal jabs at McNabb and the team.

[56][57] In this interview, when asked whether he agreed with a comment made by analyst Michael Irvin saying that the Eagles would be undefeated if Brett Favre was on the team, Owens replied, "That's a good assessment.

[64] The NFL Players Association filed a grievance against the Eagles, claiming violation of the sport's collective bargaining agreement, but Owens' suspension and deactivation were upheld by an arbitrator.

After the Cowboys defeated the Atlanta Falcons, 38–28, owner Jerry Jones revealed that Owens had injured a tendon on the same finger that he had broken earlier in the season.

[87] Against the Atlanta Falcons in week 16, Owens became the sixth player to reach 1,000 receptions in a career after catching an 8-yard pass from Brian Brohm.

[116] In September 2011, Owens was sued by Melanie Paige Smith III, the mother of his daughter, for failure to pay child support, but the case was settled prior to trial.

[117] Owens insisted that the reason for the missed child support payments was due to his wages decreasing in the NFL and Smith was aware of his circumstances.

[121] On a May 8, 2012, episode of Dr. Phil, three of the four mothers to his children accused Owens of either coming up short in his monthly child support payments or not paying at all.

Some observers (especially then-Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy) condemned the skit as being sexually suggestive because of Sheridan removing a towel, and ABC later apologized for airing it.

[126] However, on March 14, 2005, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that the skit did not violate decency standards, because it contained no outright nudity or foul language.

[127] Some media outlets in Dallas reported on the morning of September 27, 2006, that Owens had tried to kill himself by intentionally ingesting an overdose of hydrocodone, a pain medication.

[128] A police report filed on the night of September 26[129] seemed to confirm the attempt, saying that Owens's publicist, Kim Etheredge, found him unresponsive with an empty bottle of pain killers, pried two pills from his mouth, and called 9-1-1, after which an ambulance transported him four blocks from his Deep Ellum condo to Baylor University Medical Center.

At a news conference after his release, Owens denied having made a suicide attempt, stating that he expected to join the team for practice the next morning.

[131] The press conference took place after Owens had run routes and caught passes with the Cowboys at the team's practice facility in Valley Ranch.

The president of the union representing Dallas police officers subsequently demanded an apology from Owens and his publicist for her comments, which he said damaged the reputations of three patrolmen.

Bill Parcells had noted in a press conference a few days before the incident that the medication Owens had been taking had made him sick, and he had been prescribed a milder pain killer.

[137] Owens was not voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first two years of eligibility, despite being statistically ranked near the top of every NFL receiving category.

[142] During his playing career, Owens attracted attention for his flamboyant celebrations after scoring touchdowns, some of which resulted in fines from the NFL front office.

[161] Owens appeared in the NBA All-Star celebrity game again in 2009 scoring 17 points including two alley-oops, to secure his second consecutive MVP award.

[162] In June 2009, Owens starred in ABC's reincarnation of Superstars, a sports competition show from the 70s where celebrities are paired with professional athletes.

The first episode is rumored to have ended in controversy, as evidenced by a leaked clip of partner supermodel Joanna Krupa calling Owens a "prima donna".

[163] As a one-time rating sweeps week stunt, Owens replaced WKBW-TV sports anchor Jeff Russo for their 6:00 p.m. newscast on May 18, 2009.

[166] In 2014, Owens made a cameo appearance in R&B singer Faith Evans' music video "I Deserve It", featuring Missy Elliott and Sharaya J.