Terrell Owens Proves he can still play: Scores 3 TDs in IFL Debut

Former Niners, Eagles, Cowboys, Bills and Bengals wideout Terrell Owens has further proved that he can still play the game of football after his performance in tonight's Indoor Football League game.

Owens, 38, suffered a torn ACL following the 2010 season, a season in which he put up 983 yards and nine TDs on 72 receptions in his lone season with the Cincinnati Bengals. Cincy opted not to re-sign his one-year, $2 million deal and he entered free agency.

After his April 2011 surgery, T.O. was cleared to return to action in October of 2011, but he received no offers from any NFL teams throughout the season despite efforts at setting up a public workout for scouts and coaches.

After sitting out the entire 2011 regular season, and battling financial problems, Owens has yet to give up his aspirations in returning to the league despite approaching 40 years old.

In the midst of his team search this past season, he agreed to a contract with the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League on January 18. The contract was reportedly under $1 million, which just comes to show how desperate Owens is to get back on his feet.

The first game of the season was tonight (Allen hosted the Witchita Wild) on ESPN3.com. The Wranglers had no trouble taking care of the Wild in this one. Owens was named the game's MVP with three touchdown catches in his team's 50-30 victory to start the season off the correct way.

This was great publicity for the league, as I'm sure there were plenty of other NFL fans tuned in to see how Owens fared in his first game action in a year and a half. That is, of course, if they weren't immersed in the NBA's Slam Dunk contest (hint: I watched a little of both, and the Dunk contest was nothing special this year).

For those not aware of the situation, Owens is one of the NFL's best receivers of all-time and ranks second in career yards (15,934) and tied for second in TDs (153) behind only the legendary Jerry Rice in both categories. And there's no doubt he can still play this game at a professional level.

Now, whether or not an NFL team will be willing to hand Owens a 1-year contract and risk having him relapse and go back to his old ways of causing trouble in the locker room? Yeah, well, I'm not so sure that team exists right now. Not in the National Football League, at least.

I think this ship has sailed for you and possibly even your buddy Randy Moss, although he (Moss) just recently came out and said he'd be willing to sign a no-guaranteed-money contract to return to the league. Either way, first ballot Hall of Fame election for the both of you..

Photo credit
Brad Loper/Staff Photographer for Dallas News