Deion brings out best in T.O.

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IRVING, Texas -- It had been nine years since Deion Sanders made headlines with the Dallas Cowboys.But this week, he was back in the news.Not for intercepting passes. Not for scoring touchdowns.All Deion did was sit in a chair and chat with Terrell Owens. The interview for The NFL Network wasn't great -- Deion is a much better cornerback than he is a journalist.But when flamboyant meets flamboyant -- it's going to create a stir.And if it's going to make T.O. have another 213-yard receiving day -- like he did here Sunday in the Cowboys' 35-22 win over San Francisco -- Jerry Jones may think about putting the "Deion and Terrell Show" on his Silver Star Network.T.O. -- wearing a green "Eagles" shirt -- sat down with Deion -- wearing one of Dr. Huxtable's sweaters -- and told him "the system" was the reason he wasn't catching as many balls as he thought he should the past few weeks.Forget that Tony Romo was hurt and Brad Johnson's arm is shot and Brooks Bollinger couldn't make an Arena league roster -- Jason Garrett was the blame for the Cowboys not getting the ball to their best receiver."The thing is, if Garrett is smart enough to know what made me successful all those years, he'll go back and look at San Francisco and Philly. The difference is, I was a priority. You can say that," T.O. told Deion "When its not happening on the field it's evident. There are some games I've been open. There is so much pressure on the quarterback. But then again, it's not like I can't play."He said he fit in better in the West Coast offense that the 49ers and Eagles ran than he did with this offense in Dallas."We might put in the West Coast offense. But I thought this was working all right," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips joked after watching T.O. have the second-best receiving yardage day of his 13-year career.Romo, who put the ball in Owens' hands seven times and once for a spectacular 75-yard touchdown that seemed to wake his team up, he doesn't put much stock in TV interviews."You can snip it and cut it and make it sound a lot of ways that you want it to," he said.And of Deion, a grinning Romo added, "Did he play for the Cowboys? I think he was a Niner guy this week."Deion, in the first part of the interview that aired last Thursday, suggested that if T.O. wasn't being the feature receiver he thought he should be in Garrett's offense, he should write a note and stick it under the door of his Valley Ranch office."I probably would have if I had caught three balls today," T.O. joked.After hearing what Romo said about not trusting TV interviews, I asked T.O. if he thought the one he did with Deion was fair. He said he had not seen the entire interview but knew when he did it that there would be both good and bad reviews.That just comes with being T.O."It's the way you guys access it," he said. "I understand sometimes I may say things, and you guys in turn may try to figure out what I mean. But I will say I am always honest. I am going to shoot you straight."I've just been patient. I think you guys have been waiting for me to blow up and say something, but I've been patient. Every week I practice hard and really try to perfect my craft and try to take advantage of opportunities. Today those opportunities came."The Cowboys may have, as T.O. said, put in a few new wrinkles and tweaked the offense a bit, but even a bigger reason for his success was the way the 49ers defended him.Instead of jamming him on the line and focusing their attention on stopping him, San Francisco matched cornerback Nate Clements on T.O. And it turned out to be one big mismatch."Their No. 1 purpose wasn't to take him out of the game today," Romo said."They played a little bump-and-run, but not much," T.O. added. "They played a lot of zone. It was just those guys up front giving Tony time. Then it was just pitch and catch."He pointed out that the Cowboys' offensive scheme was perfect."They unleashed me today," T.O. said following only his second 200-yard day in 196 NFL games.."I have been successful everywhere I have been. Everywhere I have been I have been consistently involved in the offense. When I get my hands on the ball, things happen. It's not a mystery. What I have done here, in Philly and in San Francisco, nothing has changed. I feel I'm getting better and better each week."Romo thinks it's a non-story."He's just a receiver who wants the football. He has been a great teammate," the Cowboys quarterback emphasized. " You don't think that behind closed doors, other people want it but they just don't speak out. Everybody wants the ball. Good players wouldn't be as good as they are if they didn't want the ball."(Nick Gholson is sports editor for the Wichita Falls Times Record News in Texas.)