Terrell Owens doesn't have a whole lot of love for the San Francisco 49ers, the team that made him a third-round draft pick in 1996. In late January, he took a shot at his former NFL team when confronted by a TMZ reporter at an airport.
Owens had not yet been named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2018. While players do not enter the Hall of Fame associated with a single team, the reporter still asked the former NFL receiver which team he would choose to be linked to when inducted.
"Well, it won't be the Niners," Owens responded.
Owens' feelings toward the organization didn't stop him from campaigning earlier this month for a spot on the 49ers' roster. He told general manager John Lynch via Twitter that he was willing to play for the veteran minimum salary. Owens may not have a problem with the current 49ers regime, but he still has hard feelings toward the old one.
Two months ago, Owens jumped on a phone call with Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area for the 49ers Insider Podcast and explained why he remains bitter toward the team with which he spent his first eight NFL seasons. Maiocco released the interview on Tuesday.
"Understanding what I did in San Francisco, it has nothing to do with the fans, so I want to clear that up by any stretch of the imagination," Owens said. "The fans, I love the fans. But I think sometimes the fans, they don't understand, or they don't see the business side of what goes on into the relationship with the management and player. Trust me, I love and adore the fans there. It has nothing to do with them.
"But the management and the team, the way it's run, it's definitely not the same as what I heard or envision when Eddie DeBartolo or Carmen Policy was at the helm.
"To go a little bit deeper, the relationship that I had with (Steve) Mariucci, it was fractured, I think, the day that he suspended me after going to the star (at mid-field in Dallas), understanding that there were no rules in place for me to get suspended. But there was so much hoopla and so much media attention around what I did when I went to the star that he felt pressured or compelled to suspend me. The league didn't suspend me, he suspended me.
"He tried to pull a [public relations] stunt for me to come back and make it look like he and I were in good graces, and I'm not that type of person. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. I'm not a political or PR type of person. He tried to pull that stunt.
"My comments behind when TMZ asked the question was really stemming around the fact that when I was trying to get back in the league, understanding that I witnessed guys go back to teams that they haven't played for or got released from for many years, they've been given an opportunity to at least try out or work out to play for that particular team. I was trying to get back to play in the league. They didn't even offer me a workout. We tried. They didn't give me a workout. Two receivers that I feel like are not even on my level, they signed Brandon Lloyd, and they brought in Randy Moss. To me, that was ultimate disrespect considering what I've done and what I did for that organization.
"When I played for the 49ers, I was all scarlet and gold. That was me. I was all scarlet and gold. I bled 49ers. I put everything into my preparation because I realized I had an opportunity to win a championship with Jerry (Rice) and I had an opportunity to win it without him. And that all came to me being a playmaker fulfilling some big shoes when he left to go on."
Owens also recalled an incident on December 23, 2013, when he was invited to Candlestick Park for the 49ers' final game there before moving to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara the next year.
"They asked me to be a part of that," Owens continued. "I didn't care, but I flew my own self up there. My son was there in the Bay Area. He came to the game with me, and I had a friend of mine for many years ... he came up there with me as well.
"I was there at the game. I was down on the sidelines. They had somebody to come ask me and remove me from the sideline. I couldn't even be on the sideline. I think it was not on the actual sideline where the team was but I was on the opposite side in that little area where teams go, whatever, to get to the locker room. It was that little space over there. I was standing in that area.
"They said, 'No, you can't be down here.' And I'm like, 'What?' They was like, 'Yeah, you can't be down here.' I'm like, 'What do you mean I can't be down here?' In my mind, I'm like, 'Yo, I played here for eight years. I'm a 49er. I feel like I'm a 49er at heart.' So that was something that rubbed me the wrong way too.
Owens went on to explain that the 49ers had arranged his hotel accommodations and he wanted to leave the game early to avoid the traffic. The team arranged for Owens to travel from the hotel to the game via an SUV but wanted the trio to use a taxi to leave.
"I thought that was so disrespectful too," Owens said. "I got a ride in an SUV with my son and [friend] to the game, and they were going to try to send me back in a taxi? No. I haven't said anything public about that until now. So those are my feelings behind why I said what I did when TMZ approached me that that time."
You can listen to the entire interview with Owens below.