Brad Childress Now Has Permission to Speak to Terrell Owens

I don't expect this to have much impact on the game -- not unless Vikes head coach Brad Childress orders Pat Williams to eat Terrell Owens or something -- but the Pioneer Press' Sean Jensen writes that Childress doesn't hate T.O., even though he was the Eagles offensive coordinator back when Owens was hellbent on running that team into the ground.

To look at him, you wouldn't think Childress had a funny bone in his body. But apparently, the bald head, mustache and perma-grimace are deceiving:

The setting was Philadelphia. The team the Eagles. And the clash was, well, humorous. Terrell Owens, then a frustrated Pro Bowl receiver angling for a new contract, instructed Brad Childress, then the Eagles' offensive coordinator, not to initiate a dialogue or conversation with him. Naturally, Childress ignored Owens' request, and repeatedly said, "Hey, Terrell," on numerous occasions.

"He was antagonizing me," Owens told Philadelphia reporters in August 2005. "He was not talking to me in a business setting."

I bet Childress didn't even pronounce it correctly. "How ya doin', TAH-rell!"

Now, two years later, things are all patched up. When the teams met during the preseason, Owens gave Childress a hug. And this week, both coach and player only had nice things to say about one another. Like I've written previously, when T.O. isn't trying to divide a locker room, he can be a great teammate.