DALLAS -- Flamboyant
Dallas Cowboys receiver
Terrell Owens attempted suicide by overdosing on pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after fire rescue personnel arrived, The Associated Press reported Wednesday citing a police report.A Dallas police report released Wednesday morning said Owens told rescue workers "that he was depressed." The report was first released by WFAA-TV.The rescue worker "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth,'' the police report said.The worker attempted to pry them out with her fingers, then was told by Owens that before this incident he'd taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied. The worker then asked Owens "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"Owens was taken to the emergency room Tuesday night. A source close to Owens had told ESPN's Ed Werder early Wednesday morning that Owens was suffering an adverse reaction to painkillers taken for treatment of his fractured hand."This is not serious," Owens' publicist Kim Etheridge said in Wednesday's online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.A report earlier Tuesday stated that Owens would practice with the team Wednesday and possibly play Sunday at Tennessee, but his availability this week and beyond is now uncertain.Doctors treating the
Dallas Cowboys receiver were trying to induce vomiting when he arrived at Baylor Medical Center, according to a television report.Owens was brought by a fire rescue crew to the hospital, Dallas-Fort Worth television station KTVT reported, citing sources the television station did not identify. A reporter for the station later said she saw Owens being wheeled down the hall.Calls from The Associated Press to Owens' agent, his publicist and the Cowboys were not immediately returned Tuesday night. The hospital told the AP that they do not have a patient registered by Owens' name; however, federal privacy laws allow people to block their name from being released.No teammates or Cowboys officials were seen entering the hospital late Tuesday night.Owens fractured the fourth metacarpal bone in the Cowboys' victory over the Washington Redskins and underwent surgery on Sept. 18. The next day, a plate was screwed in, protecting the bone so it can heal without further damage.Cowboys coach Bill Parcells mentioned in a press conference shortly thereafter that pain medication had made Owens ill, apparently making this the second time he has had an adverse reaction. The incident that sent him to the hospital Tuesday night apparently occurred sometime after Owens took medication after catching passes at the Cowboys' facility on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the Cowboys also practiced without tight end Jason Witten, whose wife was having a baby. Wide receiver
Terry Glenn practiced, albeit with several stitches in his thumb."He was trying to cut some tape off his uniform," Parcells said. "He had his hand down in his pants and he missed. Fortunately he cut his hand."With the Cowboys having had a bye last weekend, Owens could return without having missed a game. Before Tuesday's late developments, Owens said he would play Oct. 8, when he gets to face his former team, the Eagles, in Philadelphia.