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After two years of coming up short, Terrell Owens will see his plaque enshrined in Canton, Ohio as the committee voted the wide receiver into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon.
Hall of Fame, Class of 2018: Randy Moss, Brian Urlacher, Ray Lewis, Brian Dawkins, Terrell Owens, Jerry Kramer, Robert Brazile and Bobby Beathard.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 3, 2018
On Thursday, Owens voiced his frustration with not being elected into the Hall of Fame the previous two years, saying “in terms of the criteria, the bylaws of which a player is nominated and inducted … um, like I said I feel like I’ve passed those with flying colors.”
That interview came the day after Owens told TMZ he wouldn’t go into the Hall of Fame as a Niner, although he won’t have a choice in the matter. Unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame, football players aren’t given the option of being inducted with an affiliation to a certain team.
Nonetheless, Owens appears to be holding on to bitter feeling about how his eight-year tenure with the 49ers came to an end in 2003.
As the story goes, Owens failed to file the paperwork that would have voided the final three years his contract with the 49ers so that he could become a free agent. His mistake, along with his discontent towards the organization for not extending his contract the year before, led to a broken relationship with the 49ers and went on to play two years with the Philadelphia Eagles, three with the Dallas Cowboys, and finished his career with a solo season as a Cincinnati Bengal.
Regardless, Owens put together a Hall of Fame-caliber career during his 15-year NFL career. With his second all-time 15,934 yards, 1,078 receptions and third all-time 153 touchdowns, Owens considered to be one of the greatest wide receivers in football history, behind only Jerry Rice and Randy Moss.