The T.O. and Bryant Gumbel Show

I just caught tonight's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" on HBO, which included the latest T.O. interview regarding his recently released book titled "T.O." By now everyone in the city of Philadelphia has been bludgeoned to death with the basic facts of this story, which included T.O.'s suspension and departure from the Birds for various acts of mischief and his eventual signing with the Cowboys this offseason. Nevertheless, I was hooked from the very start when Bryant Gumbel and T.O. were shown sitting in the same room, with Gumbel seated so close to T.O. that he was practically sitting in his lap.

I have to admit that Gumbel is a fantastic interviewer. He could easily be placed in a trial setting and take the direct or cross examination of a hostile witness without missing a beat. He challenged T.O. in a way that his buddies in the media, like Michael Irvin, would never do. He also asked some of the questions that many of us wish we could have asked T.O. in the past year, including "you're a big boy....If it all it took to make things right with the team was to apologize to Donovan, why didn't you do it?" T.O.'s response to this question: "I was going to apologize....On my time."


Here are some additional notable T.O. quotes from the interview (some of which are paraphrased):

"Donovan was one of the best individuals I ever met, but Donovan changed."

After the incident in the 2004 Giants game where Donovan told T.O. to "shut the f&*k up", T.O. says that after the game "I tried to clear things up, but (Donovan) blew me off. It was more than being competitive. He was jealous of me."

When asked why he claims to be sensitive of criticism, he said "I got picked on so much growing up and I'm still being picked on." (Clearly, tears were about to flow, but they cut to another shot.)

Basically, T.O. was disappointed that Big Red picked Donovan over him and he's upset with Donovan because he could have changed things if he wanted to.

As for his future in Big D, T.O. said that "I'm not going to have any problems in Dallas", even when faced with a quote from the Big Tuna saying that he "does not want players on his team that call attention to themselves." He followed up by saying that "people can change".

As for his past problems with both Jeff Garcia and Donovan, T.O. claims that it was just a coincidence that his last two relationships with his QB's went sour. Gumbel was clearly incredulous with this answer and followed up by asking him if he was serious that these two relationship meltdowns were just a coincidence and not a pattern. T.O. responded that he was at fault for the break up with Garcia, but "was not going to take all the blame for problems with Donovan."

I only wish Gumbel asked him about Donovan's claim that T.O. lashing out against him was the equivalent of "black on black crime". I'm sure a response to this question from someone with the mouth the size of T.O.'s would have become headline news.

Gumbel reported that the Eagles, nor Donovan (surprise, surprise), wanted to respond to T.O.'s book or the interview despite being given the opportunity to retort. (I actually think this is the smart move. This story can't go away fast enough if I'm a member of the Eagles' organization.)

Here's another news flash: at the end of the segment, Gumbel reported that T.O.'s jersey is the #1 seller in the league. (This further solidifies my theory that the masses love rebels, whether it be Elvis Presley, Allen Iverson, James Dean, Fifty Cent, or Dale Earnhardt, Sr.)

As a die-hard Eagles fan, I still can't watch the fall out from this relationship and not feel like the child of a nasty divorce where there are no winners. Sure, T.O. may have success in Dallas, and I'm sure D-Mac will be maniacal in trying to get the Birds back into the playoffs, but they had the opportunity to be a part of something special here in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, they both let greed and jealousy get in the way, but isn't that always the way things turn out in Philly.

Finally, since this is a family website, I won't comment on the story which followed on "Real Sports", but I'll just say that a trip to Germany could be very interesting. Check your local listings for times and dates.