I never thought I would play beyond the collegiate level.

I wasn't highly recruited coming out of high school.

I got drafted late third round.

A lot of people that saw me and witnessed me in high school and college, never knew or had an inkling of an idea that I would probably be a Hall of Famer one day.

I'm Chris Long, and this is American Prodigies, becoming great.

On this podcast, we highlight the fascinating career journeys of current and former football

players. Each episode, we take you on a trip through a player's life, and along the way,

explore what it means

to be great, because greatness comes in all shapes and sizes, and every path is one of a kind.

Today, we're diving into the story of one of the NFL's greatest receivers, not to mention

one of its

greatest showmen. If you were watching football in the late 90s and early 2000s, you couldn't miss

this dude. On the field, he was as dominant a player as the position has ever seen. And off the field,

well, that's where the fun really starts. He was brash, bombastic, he didn't always mesh with the folks around

him. He definitely enjoyed creating a spectacle, and I mean that in the best way. But for all

this big talk and wild antics, my man always backed it up with historically explosive play

on the field. And above all, our subject today was what pro sports is supposed to be all about.

He was fun to watch. He had a genuine joy for the game. And you know what? That pissed some people

off, but didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. We are, of course, talking about Terrell Owens.

TAW. Terrell Owens. Tio's full name is Terrell, El Dorado, Owens.

El Dorado is Spanish for the Golden One.

That's some real foreshadowing on the part of whoever named him that.

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