Owens Says He's Not Depressed and Didn't Attempt Suicide

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens denied an account in a police report that he tried to commit suicide Tuesday by overdosing on pain medication.

"There was no suicide attempt," Owens said at an afternoon news conference at the Cowboys' training facility.

Owens rejoined the Cowboys after being released from the Baylor University Medical Center. He gave a thumbs-up sign to media members before leaving the hospital grounds in a sport utility vehicle, and said he even caught some passes from Cowboys quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo after arriving at the club's Valley Ranch practice facility.

He said he suffered an allergic reaction Tuesday after taking painkilling medication and nutritional supplements. Owens said he thinks he's capable of participating in the Cowboys' practice Thursday and playing in a game scheduled for Sunday against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.

Owens said at his news conference that he took two to three pain pills along with some supplements. His injured hand was hurting, he said, and he had a doctor treat him at his house.

He said he didn't have his stomach pumped at the hospital and called the notion that he had taken 35 pain pills "absurd."

Said Owens: "I don't think I would be here if I took 35 pills."

Owens said that his publicist, Kim Etheredge, made the 911 call Tuesday because he was "non-responsive" and she saw his empty pain-medication bottle. His other pain pills were in a drawer, Owens said.

He said he answered the police officers' questions at the hospital the way he did because he wasn't aware of what he was being asked.

"I really wasn't as coherent as they probably thought I was," Owens said.

Etheredge appeared with Owens as his news conference and denied making the statements that were attributed to her in the police report. She denied telling officers that Owens was depressed and said she didn't attempt to take any pills out of his mouth, although she added that she could not recall all of the details of the night.

"Terrell has 25 million reasons why he should be alive," Etheredge said, referring to Owens's $25 million contract with the Cowboys.

Owens said he's "not depressed by any means," and called it "unfortunate" that the attempted suicide report became public. After Etheredge spoke at the news conference, Owens returned to the podium to publicly thank the police officers, paramedics and doctors who had been involved in the case.

By Mark Maske |  September 27, 2006; 4:04 PM ET  | Category:  Cowboys
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