King Kaufman's Sports Daily
Terrell Owens' reported suicide attempt: His publicist says it was a mix-up, but maybe this will spur him to get the help he needs.
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Sept. 27, 2006 | And so what are we to make of the bizarre, contradictory reports Wednesday morning that Terrell Owens tried or did not try to commit suicide?
Owens was rushed to the Baylor Medical Center emergency room in Dallas Tuesday night by Dallas fire and rescue workers. His publicist, Kim Etheredge, insisted that he'd had an allergic reaction to pain medication he has been taking for his broken finger, for which he underwent surgery Sept. 18. The next day, Cowboys coach Bill Parcells mentioned Owens having trouble with his medication.
But a police report obtained and released by WFAA-TV in Dallas characterized the incident as a suicide attempt, with Owens ingesting as many as 35 of the prescription pills.
Late Wednesday morning, the Dallas police held a news conference at which a spokesman, Lt. Rick Watson, said the report obtained by WFAA should not have been released, that Dallas police are not investigating Owens' situation, which they consider a medical, not a criminal matter, and that "this is the official statement."
Watson refused to answer questions and did not specifically say that Owens had not attempted suicide. A Dallas fire and rescue news conference a few minutes later was no more illuminating.
According to the Associated Press, the police report describes Owens telling a friend that he was depressed. The unidentified female friend -- probably Etheredge, who is likely the person who called 911 -- having noticed the empty medication bottle, saw Owens pop two more pills, and she tried to pry the pills out of Owens' mouth with her fingers, the report says.
Owens told the friend he'd only taken five of the 40 pills in the bottle, the police report says, but it also says Owens answered "Yes" when rescue workers asked if he was trying to harm himself.
On ESPNews, Ed Werder reported that Etheredge says that Owens' statement to the rescue workers that he was trying to harm himself "was the result of him not understanding what they were saying because he had an allergic reaction to the medication."
I have to admit my first reaction to the suicide reports was a sort of eye-rolling, "Oh, Terrell." I also know from trolling online message boards that I'm not the only one who had that reaction.
It's not an appropriate response to a suicide attempt, whether it's a "real" one, a desperate bid for attention or even a misunderstanding. Desperate bids for attention and misunderstandings sometimes leave people just as dead as if they'd really meant to kill themselves.