Misunderstood!

Step on a star one year, you're the villain.

Switch the color of your jersey, and suddenly you are a team's savior.

We all know this villain and savior, one Mr. Terrell Owens.

Ok, maybe he's not the Cowboys savior, but my how the times have changed since the days of his stomping on the star at midfield wearing the colors of rival San Francisco.

Nowadays, the Cowboys fandom basically embraces T.O. because he is a very good football player. Past indiscretions and loyalties aside, T.O. gives the chance for the Cowboys to win.

But this story isn't about T.O.'s love/hate relationship with teammates, fans, or the public. That one has been written 1,000 too many times.

It's about perception versus reality. It's about why we tend criminalize T.O.'s childish antics and hold Chad Johnson's maneuvers in the highest regard for comedy. It's about how coaches like Nick Satan, Bill Parcells, and Bill Belicheat get away with selling out their players, organizations, and most importantly fans, while disgracing the game with lies and deceit.

I'll start by stating I am a Cowboys fan but have never been a T.O. fan. I didn't want them to pick him up. I used all the typical T.O.-bashing keywords....locker room cancer, showboat, selfish.

How could the Cowboys welcome a player who just a few years prior was degrading the star that represents all of the Cowboy successes and their shining as "America's Team"?

But what I didn't see was that T.O. is no different than Chad Johnson, a man loved by most all fans, media, and organizations alike. NFL players are paid to entertain. They are paid to perform on the field. The most important part of that performance is catching passes and scoring touchdowns, but keeping the fans entertained and interested in the game is a very close second.

Sure, T.O. has had his issues. Fake suicide attempt, running his mouth instead of being the quiet or politically correct speaker, questioning his superiors and teammates. However, when you look at all his "transgressions", the guy has never really done anything wrong, aside from being loud and proud of his ability, especially when you see some of the criminals running amok in professional sports.

So why does he get a $7,500 fine for making a very serious league allegation against the New England Patriots (spygate anyone?) into a funny and light-hearted joke by using the football as the camera to "tape" the Dolphins, while Chad Johnson gets off scot-free while jumping into the Dawg Pound in Cleveland and using a prop to make his "Hall of Fame" jacket?

Got me.

Now onto the hallowed coaching fraternity and their constant free pass. Parcells has jumped from team to team without anyone questioning his loyalty or how he just slid out of situations he didn't want to be in (Read: Cowboys and T.O. just like T.O. and Eagles). Or how, Satan, err Saban, just picks up and bolts from the Dolphins after realizing he was a terrible NFL coach. Or why somehow Belicheat does not get suspended while cheating the game and its rules?!?

On top of all that, these coaches, and many like them, continually avoid media scrutiny and questioning, while guys like T.O. and Ocho Cinco are honest and straight-forward while not holding back what they feel and believe. They are true to themselves whether you like it or not, unlike most in the coaching business.

Somehow these coaches broken promises, broken rules, and demands for control and huge salaries get a pass or are overlooked, while players are always called selfish.

After seeing the No Fun League once again hit Terrell Owens with a fine only because he was T.O., I've come to realize why we should appreciate players like him and Chad Johnson. We need to appreciate them for what they are: paid professional athletes and entertainers who allow us to enjoy the sport a little bit more than the player who just isn't as good at what they do when compared to T.O. and Ocho Cinco.

Not nearly as funny either!

They have shown to be generally harmless, and also extremely talented, athletes who are out there to promote themselves, their teams, and the game itself. They deserve the same amount of leverage, if not more than, these coaches because they are ones who allow us fans to enjoy the sports we watch.