While the three-ring Terrell Owens circus played out Thursday between Dallas and Philadelphia, a three-ring drama was being staged in news conferences in three cities.
The hype surrounding Owens is deserved because his return to Philadelphia is one of the more anticipated NFL scenes in years. But while reporters and camera crews awaited post-practice interviews to feed this story, news conferences for Tampa quarterback Chris Simms, Cincinnati linebacker David Pollack and Tennessee defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth also were taking place.
Each provided insight into the physical and emotional reality of pro football. From the physical side, Simms gave lengthy and painful details about playing more than three quarters against Carolina with a spleen that had to be surgically removed after the game. Pollack talked about his prospects for returning from a broken neck in 2007. Haynesworth tried to explain the emotions and thinking behind his disgusting kick to the head of Cowboys' center Andre Gurode, who needed 30 stitches to repair the cuts.
These stories only reminded us how physical and violent football can be. Football players believe they are invincible. They must feel that way. It's the only way to survive in a world of high-speed collisions and 300-pound bodies flying around.
Before getting into the Simms story -- which was the most touching -- let's talk about Haynesworth. There seems to be a sentiment in the media to run him out of the league, which would be wrong. Many players say Haynesworth's act deserved criminal charges. Many say they wouldn't want him on their team.
The Titans are expected to seek at least 5/17, or about $323,529, of his prorated bonus of just under $1.1 million for this season, and may release him, even though he's under contract for 2007 for $5.5 million. Considering he started the first four games, that could be fought by Haynesworth and the players' union.
Head coach Jeff Fisher certainly sounded unsure about bringing him back. He was pretty pointed during a Fox Radio interview Thursday, putting some doubt in Haynesworth's mind about returning after his five-game suspension.
"It's over; it's done with, it was brutal, there was no place for it,'' Fisher said. "But we've moved on. He's not in the building, he won't be in the building, he may never be in the building ever again. But we move on. So what do you tell your players? You say, 'You know what? He's been hurt before. When he's been out for four or five weeks we have rallied. Someone else has got to step up and pick up the slack and move on.' And that's what we're doing.
"He's gone for five weeks. I don't know what he's going to do. Is he going to go out and gain his weight back or come back not in shape? I don't know. At this point, I don't care. The conduct on the field was so outside the lines that right now I've moved on. He's not part of this team. I'll deal with it when the suspension is over."
That's pretty strong, but it also echoes the thoughts of players and coaches around the NFL. The Titans defensive lineman could have blinded Gurode. The offensive lineman was defenseless on the ground, following a Cowboys' third-quarter touchdown. For whatever reason, Haynesworth just snapped. His right shoe knocked off the helmet and he stepped again, opening a big cut on Gurode's face.
"I've watched it, and honestly I can't believe I did that,'' Haynesworth said. "I can't believe that's me. That's not me. I'm still in shock. I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it. Some people think 'He just took his suspension and moved on.' Honestly, I think about it every day, and I have a sick stomach every day all the time, I really do.''
I believe him. Haynesworth deserves another chance as long as his teammates take him back, and they should. This incident was bad. It wasn't to the degree of the Kermit Washington assault on Rudy Tomjanovich, but it was worse than Turkey Joe Jones body slamming Terry Bradshaw or Charles Martin doing the same to Jim McMahon.
Commissioner Roger Goodell was right in suspending Haynesworth for five games. NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw decided to appeal, only to be stopped by Haynesworth.
Haynesworth was very sincere in his public apology, but the most important audience was Gurode. His family and teammates were pushing him to file criminal charges. Wisely, he didn't. Players are at risk on every play on a football field. Bringing the courts into the sport is not right. It has happened at least three times in hockey, due to overzealous prosecutors looking for headlines.
Let's hope Haynesworth can come back in five weeks, control his emotions and salvage his football career. The best news is that Gurode, despite the scars and stitches, might start Sunday in the league's most anticipated game.
Simms' story was different and sadder. Listening to a player describe losing a body organ in a football game is astonishing. Fortunately, he believes he received the proper medical treatment.
In the first quarter of the loss to the Panthers, Simms was sandwiched between two Panthers' defensive linemen, including the dominating Kris Jenkins.
"I guess it was the second series of the first quarter,'' Simms said. "I was running to my right. I think it was Kris Jenkins who hit me in the back and one of the linebackers hit me right in the front where my rib pads don't protect and it knocked the wind out of me. But it was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I had never had a broken rib or anything like that. So at first I thought maybe I cracked a rib. I really didn't know what was going on. But I just had a hard time catching my breath after I went down.''
As the game went on, Simms didn't know what was wrong, even though he briefly left the game.
"A spleen injury is not something you see happen very often in this league,'' Simms said. "I'm telling the doctors. 'I feel OK, I feel like I can play.' I got the IV when I was in there. I got to lay down for a few minutes and I popped up and I said, `OK, I feel pretty good. Let's go back out there.''
Things got worse in the fourth quarter.
"I started to feel it towards the end,'' Simms said. "Late in the fourth quarter, really, their last drive, as they were driving down the field to kick the field goal, the thought occurred to me, as strange as it is, 'Maybe I'm bleeding internally.' I swear I thought that in my mind. But I really didn't know at that point. But I really started to feel, like every time I stood up or looked up I was getting a little fuzzy like the curtains were coming down over my eyes, like you've heard people say before. I just knew something wasn't quite right. It was unlike anything I had felt in my football career.''
The doctor and trainer questioned whether it could have been a spleen injury, until Simms was in the training room after the game. As it turned out, he lost three pints of blood internally and needed six bags of blood to recoup.
Simms was rushed to the hospital. While getting a CAT scan, he saw more urgency on the faces of the doctors. He knew the news wasn't good.
"I knew there was something pretty wrong,'' Simms said. "Even on TV, you don't hear people say, 'We're going into surgery in 15 or 20 minutes.' I knew I was beat up at that point.''
Surgery went well. Simms has lost 10 pounds, but there is an outside chance he can return this season. The team doesn't need the roster spot for now, so it will keep him on the roster and see when Luke McCown might be ready. McCown is coming off an ACL knee tear.
Pollack's conference call with Bengals' reporters was just as compelling. Pollack won't know until the end of the year whether his cracked vertebrae has healed well enough for him to begin rehab to play in 2007. The prognosis is good, but nobody knows for sure.
Surgery isn't needed, but if his cracked vertebrae doesn't heal properly, he will need career-ending fusion surgery.
"One doctor said it, 'Not very many people walk away from a broken neck twice," Pollack told reporters. "And that's something that kind of hits home, you know. When you fuse two vertebrae together, the likehood for the injury is greatly increased.
"I couldn't really feel my arms for a little while. That was scary," he said. "I knew something was wrong. I assumed it was a real bad stinger because I had tingling from my neck to my fingertips."
Pollack says the first two fingers of his left hands are still numb on the finger tips. He's wearing a halo brace screwed into his skull, and mostly stays at home.
Football is a violent and emotional sport. Simms, Pollack, Gurode and Haynesworth reminded us of that this week. While everyone gets wrapped up in the T.O. hype, it's easy to forget what players are risking on the football field.
Thursday gave us a scary and revealing insight.
John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.