Breaking: NFL star attempts suicide

[RB TexLa]

Dallas Cowboys star receiver Terrell Owens attempted suicide Tuesday night by swallowing prescription pain medication, according to a source who spoke to WFAA-TV.

A Dallas police report, which does not name Owens, says the victim acknowledged to police that he had taken the pills and was trying to harm himself, WFAA-TV reported Wednesday. The source identified the unnamed victim as Owens.




http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/092706spoowens.1e22584a.html

Goes to show anyone can be suffering from depression. Money, fame, none of that stuff makes one immune to it.

[htuttle]

1. I read the news today, oh boy. About a lucky man who'd made the grade...

[Botany]

2. Please forgive me.

Terrell goes deep?

[tiptoe]

6. "Brutal, Juice!"...besides...

It was a shovel pass.

:hide:

[nini]

37. not funny..

not a bit.


:eyes:

[Dorian Gray]

3. I'm not a particularly big football fan

but this news actually stunned me this morning when I read it. I hope that he is okay and able to work past whatever is demonizing him.

[MountainLaurel]

4. Interesting

Because our local TV station here in DC reported that he'd gone to the hospital because of an allergic reaction to the painkillers he was taking for his broken hand.

[RB TexLa]

7. That was the story his publicist put out this morning

WFAA has been going by the Dallas police department report.

[Ilsa]

5. Is this someone who got out of college early to go pro?

Maybe there was too much pressure and he couldn't cope. I have no idea what his history is. I hope he will be okay with really good help. Lots of great doctors in D.

Hang in there, Terrell!

[HuskerDU]

12. I believe that Owens was a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick out of

a smaller college. In other words, he became a primadona in the pros, not college.

Owens is the guy ESPN goes to on slow news days because of his controversial attitude. He is probably the best known non-QB in the NFL today. No idea why he would want to kill himself.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

27. He certainly has a history...

He can be a tremendous football player, loads of talent, but he has also been notorious for his attention-seeking antics. I loved him when he was with the Niners (esp that one amazing catch he made from Steve Young in the final seconds to beat Green Bay in the playoffs), but he was also the type to whine and draw attention to himself when things weren't going so well for the team and the QB wasn't getting him the ball enough.

He was not, however, the kind of trouble that other players have been, as far as using drugs or fighting in bars or beating up his girlfriends. He was raised by his grandmother, I believe, and was very close to her.

He was most notorious for some showy antics when he scored, like celebrating on the Dallas star and pulling a Sharpie out of his sock to sign the football after he scored. A lot of fans hated him for that, but when he was on my team scoring those TDs I thought it was hilarious.

Reading the story, he didn't take an outrageous amount of pills; sounds to me like another attention-getting attempt. I could be wrong, but my take is that he's a bit of drama addict.

Edited to correct what I read wrong in the story: apparently he took a lot of pills; I read it as he only took about 5, then 2 more. So perhaps he really was trying to kill himself, who knows?

[Stuckinthebush]

8. That's sad

I hope he gets the help he was screaming for.

I'm no expert in psychology, but isn't the use of medication to attempt suicide usually a cry for help rather than intended as a means of certain death?

[madokie]

9. sometimes those things, money and fame only make it worse

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. Very, very true

[timber84]

10. I personally don't take anything that Drudge has for a headline as

anything remotely close to the truth.

[RB TexLa]

11. This was broken by WFAA here well before he picked up on it

This is from the DPD report, officers at the scene and people at Baylor medical center.

[CatWoman]

13. An ER worker called into the Tom Joyner Morning Show

around 9:15 this morning to report this.

[timber84]

15. So much for privacy in the Emergency room.

Wonder if she's friends with Schiavo's nurse?:sarcasm:

[CatWoman]

18. it was a "he"

and he wanted Tom Joyner to get the "scoop"

[timber84]

20. Sorry i don't agree with ER workers doing that,

[RB TexLa]

23. Neither does federal law

There has been no HIPPA release signed, it is against the law for the hospital or any employee of the hospital to confirm or deny there is a patient by insert name here at the hospital.

[likesmountains 52]

30. This ER worker will be looking for a new job soon...and also be

paying a hefty fine for violating HIPAA..

[Recovered Repug]

14. It's hard to tell what actually happened.

While the police list it as a suicide attempt, there was a reporter on ESPN who said that the woman with Owens (she called the police) claimed it was just a reaction to the painkillers.

[CatWoman]

16. The ER worker (see above)

said that it was a suicide attempt. The woman with Owens was his girlfriend. He had locked himself into a room and had swallowed over 60 painkillers, and the hospital was inducing vomiting.

[Recovered Repug]

28. Well, I'd guess that the ER nurese was just passing on what he'd

been told. However, based on the same reporter I mentioned above, the reason the police called it a suicide attempt was based on questions that they asked Owens - like if he was trying to harm himself. Now IF it was a reaction, would it be reasonable to think that he was kind of "out of it" and wasn't certain what was asked? The sad thing is, even if it was just a reaction, the "suicide attempt" story will stick with him forever.

[Horse with no Name]

32. I have a hard time believing that an ER worker would release this

I am going to give the benefit of the doubt and say that it very well could have been another patient in the ER who overheard something from a family member and said they worked in the ER to make their "story" credible.
FWIW, Baylor provides medical care to MANY huge named VIPS--Terrell Owens is hardly one to lose a career over.

[RB TexLa]

19. The woman is his publicist

Too many people police EMTs that were there.

She was just trying to do her job. But like I said too many people that have already talked. There isn't going to be any official statement from the hospital or the Cowboys, until he signs a HIPPA release Baylor can't even confirm he is in the hospital.

[wicket]

22. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Recovered Repug]

29. Thank you eom

[H2O Man]

21. It's a sad incident.

It appears that he had been taking "pain-killers" since breaking his fingers on 9-14. One of the things that I think is potentially significant here is that different people will have very different responses to various medications. It is not uncommon for pain medications to impair a person's judgement, and that can lead to any number of behaviors that are distinct from what an individual would do without the medication in their system. Having taken any pain medication since 9-14 would suggest that he had a level in his system that may well have come into play in whatever events took place last night.

As an individual and an athlete, I think Terrell Owens is interesting. I hope he gets whatever help he requires.

As a society, I hope we do not look at his case as either entertainment, or somehow distinct from what many, many individuals and families deal with. We are over-medicated. And in impacts how we experience and live our lives.

[dogday]

24. Money can't buy you happiness

Just another example that having money does not always fix the problems in your life...

[Bluzmann57]

25. This should not be a news item

I know Owens is a public figure, and a controversial one at that, but this report, if true, should be a private matter for T.O. to work out. I do not think an attempted suicide by anyone should be reported, because as I stated, it should be a private matter. Obviously, Owens has issues and reporting his alleged attempted suicide world wide may not be helpful. I wish him luck in his future and also a speedy recovery. I guess this is just a symptom of the tabloid times we live in.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

26. Owens had a pretty crappy childhood

I know many who follow football don't care for him. He has an attitude and it's overshadowed his skills.

I read someplace he didn't know who his dad was when he was growing up until he was the age of 12. He only found out then because he had a crush on the girl across the street and her dad told him she was his half sister. I know that would have to leave an emotional mark behind.

I hope he gets it together, he only in his early thirties he has a lot of life left to live.

[RB TexLa]

31. Dallas PD presser: Steps away from Terrell Owens case

Said no information should have been leaked. Said situation was a medical situation and they will have nothing to say about it and if people want information to request the 911 tape or contact Terrell Owens. Said they will not confirm or deny anything regarding the situation.

[mtnester]

33. So the HIPAA lawyers decended...

and I am sure, once identified, a certain ER employee will be looking for, if not already, a new job...with a "neutral" reference...which essentially means NO reference.

That ER employee better get a lawyer too.

Appalling breech of privacy laws all over the place.

[RB TexLa]

36. I'm sure the Cowboys came down on the police

They want their investment back on the field. If the police weren't going to charge him with something, then it has to be treated as a medical matter, thus the DPD's use of the phrase "we can't confirm or deny" anything around the case. The 911 tapes will be the most telling. The publicist who called 911 and then put out the statement that it was a reaction. Will have to see how she sounds on the tape before she started her spin.

[annabanana]

34. Well, there goes the news coverage. . .

(for at least the rest of the legislative session)

[Horse with no Name]

35. Very sad. I hope he gets the help he needs.

Very odd in that men hardly ever take pills to commit suicide. They generally prefer guns or hanging or some other violent end, which is the reason that males are more likely to die from their suicide attempts. Not sexist, just the way it is.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/suifacts.htm
>>>snip
Suicide: Fact Sheet
Groups At Risk

Males

* Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for all U.S. men (Anderson and Smith 2003).
* Males are four times more likely to die from suicide than females (CDC 2004).
* Suicide rates are highest among Whites and second highest among American Indian and Native Alaskan men (CDC 2004).
* Of the 24,672 suicide deaths reported among men in 2001, 60% involved the use of a firearm (Anderson and Smith 2003).

Makes you wonder if it was more a cry for help than a legitimate suicide attempt since someone so readily found him.