My heart broke in two for the faithful supporters of such storied franchises. I hate to see true fans have their loyalty treated like Marcellus Wallace as their front office plays the role of the Gimp.

Necessity makes for some strange bed fellows, I suppose.

The greatest used car salesman of our generation, Drew Rosenhaus, has duped one of the great owners in the history of sports, Ralph Wilson.

Rosenhaus told the world his client was being pursued by “multiple teams”. Now that his client has signed a one year deal with a team that finished last in its division, we know that those other teams must have been the Toronto Argonauts and the Frankfurt Galaxy.

As I write this, Bills fans are making their peace with the fact that Terrell Owens will be playing within a dropped balls’ reach of the hallowed “Wall of Fame“.

O.J. Simpson, James Lofton, Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Terrell Owens.

Suddenly O.J. looks more inviting than T.O.

Ralph Wilson is caught between a rock and an economic crisis. He wants to win first, but needs to assure fans in Upstate New York that they’ll have professional football for generations to come.

T.O. will increase ticket sales, no doubt. The price of popcorn just doubled in Orchard Park. 

Since he only has a one-year deal, I’m willing to bet that Owens will keep his mouth shut and play ball in 2009.

Make no mistake though; T.O. is in Buffalo for T.O.’s wallet just like Brett Favre was in New York for Brett Favre’s legacy and nothing else. Owens knows that having a monster season in 2009 will equal more dollars in 2010. 

During his introductory press conference, Owens was asked what his locker room demeanor would be like.

His response?

“I’m going to be the same person here that I was in Dallas the last three years.”

Ouch!

That “same person” went from being a ticket to the Super Bowl to excess baggage in three years in Dallas.

Make no mistake – as a Raider fan – I let out a huge sigh of relief when I saw Owens sporting a Bills cap. That doesn’t mean that I don’t feel bad for the good fans in Buffalo.

In the modern NFL, anything is possible.

Let’s be honest though. The arrival of a diminished Owens is not going to tip the scales of power in the top heavy AFC.

Trent Edwards is still Trent Edwards. He is not going to undergo some Kafkaesque metamorphosis over night and become Peyton Manning now that he has a diva demanding the ball as his teammate.

My Raiders don’t play the Bills in 2009 and unless fate brings us together in the playoffs, I’ll root for your team every week because you deserve better than Terrell Owens.