The more time you spend at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the more time you spend listening to the inductees and reading their stories and learning about their lives, the more you realize that none of the Hall of Famers consider this an individual honor.
They talk about their families. They talk about their teammates. They talk about their coaches. They talk about the fans. They talk about everybody who helped them become the player they became, and good luck getting one of them to talk about themselves.
And that's the way it should be. Football is the ultimate team sport, and if we didn't see it before, we sure can see it after watching the 2017 Eagles, a team that won a Super Bowl by collectively setting aside its egos and working together to achieve something unforgettable.
And then there's T.O.
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He didn't get this when he played. He doesn't get it now. And he's 44 years old and most likely he'll never get it.
Why is Terrell Owens holding his own personal Hall of Fame ceremony in Tennessee Saturday instead of spending the weekend at the Pro Football Hall of Fame with all the other inductees and former greats?
Because it was never about the team for T.O. It was never about acknowledging or crediting or thanking his teammates or coaches or anybody other than himself.
It's just sad. He's unquestionably one of the greatest wide receivers in the history of the game. But he just never understood the power of a team.
The beauty of the 2017 Eagles was Nelson Agholor and Alshon Jeffery putting up essentially pedestrian numbers - neither was among the top 30 receivers in the league - because all they ever cared about was doing what the team needed. Because they knew that by being unselfish and sacrificing their stats, they could be part of something historic.
The beauty of the 2017 Eagles was LeGarrette Blount embracing Jay Ajayi when he arrived because even though he knew his own numbers would suffer, he also knew the Eagles were tougher to defend with another weapon in the backfield.
The beauty of the 2017 Eagles was Nick Foles doing everything he could to help Carson Wentz before he got hurt, and Wentz doing everything he could to help Foles after he got hurt.
And then there's T.O., who froze out his quarterback for saying the Eagles could still get to the Super Bowl after T.O. got hurt late in the 2004 season - what was Donovan McNabb supposed to say, "We have no chance without him?" - and refused to speak to offensive coordinator Brad Childress for some unknown transgression and being so disruptive and difficult because he was unhappy with his contract situation that the Eagles finally had to kick him off the team when he was on pace for nearly 1,800 yards.
It's always about T.O. It's never about the team. And even now, as he's about to be bestowed with the highest honor a football player can receive, he still doesn't get it.
And so he isolates himself and makes it about T.O. Just like he always did.
It's just sad. What an electrifying talent.
T.O.'s personal one-man Hall of Me ceremony Saturday in Chattanooga isn't a snub to the Hall of Fame as much as it's a snub to the notion of the type of unselfish, team-first football he never understood.
It's his ultimate and final statement that he's always about himself and never about his team.
I always liked T.O. He's got an incredible personality when he lets it show, he can be engaging and charming when he wants to be, and he's simply one of the most electrifying athletes I've ever seen.
It's sad that he's not here. That he's not going to stand on that stage Saturday night and listen to the roar of the crowd one last time. That he can't experience the greatest honor a football player can experience.
It's just a shame that after all these years, T.O. still can't see that there's something bigger, something greater, something far more important than himself.
More on Terrell Owens
• Dawkins: 'He's not coming, it's T.O. … it makes sense'
• Owens looking good on Hall of Fame program cover
• Owens gives fellow Hall of Fame inductees special presents
• Owens is just being a man of his word with Hall snub
• Owens, a man of many celebrations, skipping HOF celebration
