Terrell Owens is set to become the first football player to get traded after having been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The 48-year-old wide receiver was involved in the first trade in the history of the Fan Controlled Football league on Tuesday. Owners agreed to a three-team deal that would send T.O. from the Zappers to the Knights of Degen, pending fan approval.
Fan Controlled Football empowers fans to make league rules, call their team's offensive plays, review replays...and now, vote on trades.
Registered fans of each team can vote to accept or reject the trade through the FCF app, with a 70-percent rejection rate needed for the trade to be vetoed.
Trade speculation involving Owens began Saturday after he went without a catch in the Zappers' 28-0 loss to the Beasts, the first shut out in league history. The Zappers fell to 0-4 with the loss, making them the lone team in the league without a victory this season.
After the game, Owens was asked by Charly Arnolt of fubo Sports if he would consider requesting a trade.
“I’m not sure if that’s an option,” Owens said. “If it is, maybe I’ll try to see what that’s about. If not, we just gotta regroup and keep going.”
Owens, who is hoping to make a return to the NFL, later elaborated on the trade talk.
“You mentioned in the postgame, the idea of being traded, so I may have to look in exploring that option,” he said. “Obviously, I don’t like losing. At the end of the day, we’ve had some quarterback issues from day one. Not to put all the onus on them. But like you said, today some of the errant throws were kind of inexcusable. We just got to get better. But for me, maybe it’s for me to move on and find another team.”
Owens has eight catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns this season. But the Zappers have struggled offensively amid the absence of franchise player Johnny Manziel, who has played in just one of four games this season. Kelly Bryant, starting in place of Manziel on Saturday, exited after suffering an injury and was replaced by Brian Allen, who completed 1 of 7 passes and threw three interceptions.
The Zappers have used six quarterbacks through four games.
The trade, if accepted, would pair Owens with quarterback Ed Crouch, the MVP of last season's championship game, and the 3-1 Knights, who boast the league's second-best offense.
Owens, with 15,934 receiving yards, trails only Jerry Rice and Larry Fitzgerald for most all time. Having made first-team All-Pro five times and the Pro Bowl six times, Owens was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
T.O. is one of many NFL players affiliated with Fan Controlled Football, a 7-on-7 professional indoor league that allows fans to call offensive plays and vote on rules.
Other former and current NFL players associated with the league include team owners Marshawn Lynch, Austin Ekeler, Richard Sherman, Dalvin Cook and Tiki and Ronde Barber, who co-own the Knights of Degen that has agreed to acquire Owens.
Here's the full trade, which includes picks from the league's weekly draft where fans vote on the selections:
Knights of Degen:
Trade – QB Dentarrius Yon, WR Isiah King
Receive – WR Terrell Owens, WR Jacoby Herring
Zappers
Trade – WR Terrell Owens, Picks 1 & 16 this week
Receive – QB Jason Stewart, WR Isiah King, Picks 5 & 12 this week
Beasts
Trade – QB Jason Stewart, WR Jacoby Herring, Picks 5 & 12 this week
Receive – QB Dentarrius Yon, Picks 1 & 16 this week
Fans have until 2 a.m. ET on Wednesday to vote on the trade.
Watch Fan Controlled Football every Saturday on NBCLX over the air, on cable, at LX.com and on your favorite streaming platform.
