While Terrell Owens’ publicist boldly claimed yesterday that her client “has 25 million reasons to live,” (yeah, tell that one to Kurt Cobain), the Dallas WR’s personal trainer paints a far different picture in this morning’s Dallas Morning News.
(Mendlebaum?)
“A lot of things were coming to a head anyway, and then this happened,” said James “Buddy” Primm (above) , 55, who until earlier this month, had been living with Owens in his loft on Commerce Street, in the shadow of Fair Park.
Primm said Owens underwent two traumatic events Monday involving his 7-year-old son and his fiancée, a woman he has dated for three years.
Owens’ son, from a previous relationship, celebrated his birthday Monday, Primm said. Owens was distraught, he said, about not being able to be see the boy, who lives in California.
“He wanted to get together with the boy,” Primm said. “But the boy could not come here, and Terrell could not go there.”
Then hours later, a woman whom Primm described as Owens’ fiancée broke off the relationship. Primm declined to give the woman’s last name but said she and Owens had been dating for three years. She also lives in California.
“That’s been coming on forever,” Primm said of the breakup. “She’s not a bad girl. She’s cool, she’s fine. He said, ‘Can I take a break from the engagement?’ And she said, ‘No, let’s just put a stop to it.’ And that was a complete surprise to Terrell.”
Owens “doesn’t have many friends,” said the trainer, who contends that the public and news media have long misperceived a man he considers “a gentle soul” and a “caring, highly sensitive” individual with a fragile psyche.
Although it’s not of much consequence, I haven’t heard or read any of the expert psychologists… er… sports columnists mention that playing in the NFL is a fairly suicidal occupation to begin with.
thanks for the whole “me spraying dr. pepper on the laptop screen after picturing t.o. being challenged to lift a t.v. in a hospital room” thing.