Terrell Owens is one of the best, well-respected wide receivers to ever grace the sport of football, even ranking third in NFL history for career yards and touchdowns. In addition to making it into the Hall of Fame, the six-time Pro Bowler was best known for his unforgettable celebratory touchdowns — and let’s not get into the shit-talking either.
Fast forward to 2023, T.O. is still living his best life, diving into other sports and focusing on his entrepreneurship. Most recently, he unveiled his new clothing line called Prototype81, inspired directly by his love for fitness and his long-lasting football career.
The Source had the pleasure of speaking with Terrell Owens at his Prototype fashion show in the Arts District of Los Angeles. Read below as we discuss the meaning behind his clothing brand, favorite artists, his welcome to NFL moment, Deion Sanders, favorite quarterback, and more!
First of all, how was that Hart House?
Oh, it was good. Anytime you can eat some healthy food…
Are you vegan?
No, I’m not vegan. I eat relatively healthy though, for the most part. But I’m always going to support.
Talk about your clothing brand, Prototype. I love that you’re signing athletes, that’s incredible.
My brand is an athleisure brand. Everybody knows from my illustrious 15-year career in the National Football League, I’ve always been into fitness. That came with my profession and what I did as an athlete. A lot of people don’t know but my mom, she sewed and made all of our clothes when we were younger. So the fabric of who I am, it’s in the DNA. I always wanted to create something with fashion. She was fashionable. Everything that I’m doing now, she’s vicariously living through me.
I wanted to create a brand that represents who I am. Coming out of college, high school — especially college, they said I have the prototypical type of body to go into the National Football League for receivers. That’s how I came up with the name Prototype. Just the creativity that comes with me and everybody following my career, you look at the word and spell the word Prototype. My name is Terrell Owens, the initials are T.O. You can’t spell Prototype without T.O.
Again, my brand is athleisure: hoodies, joggers, crop tops, leggings. I even have a little small collection for kids called Prototype81 Kids. I’m trying to expand. Obviously Looptify gives me the platform, the opportunity to expand and and bring some exposure to it. It was a great event tonight.
Do you have a favorite Prototype81 item?
This is the Women’s bomber jacket, it’s reversible. If you look at it, it’s paneled with the black to try to accentuate the fit. This is the reverse side, it’s black and satin on that side. You got some fitness pieces here. This is a women’s piece top. You got your tie-dye here. Hoodies, joggers. If you don’t know what the word Prototype means, I got it for you. “The basis in which something is made or formed. We’re all prototypes in our own right.” At the end of the day, you can’t spell Prototype without T.O.
Last week, I interviewed 2 Chainz. I told him you played “I’m Different” to get hyped. Who else is on the game day playlist?
2 Chainz! That’s my dawg. Game day: that could be anything from Migos, Quavo. Obviously 2 Chainz, I like 2 Chainz. Rick Ross, anybody that can get me hyped. Sometimes it depends on the mood, it depends on the game and the mindset that I’m in. I can listen to a little bit of everything.
How’d it feel when Lil Wayne made a whole song about you.?
Hey man, I love it. Anytime you can get recognized for what you’ve done, then you have somebody like Lil Wayne shout you out, that’s a good thing.
How was it golfing with 50 Cent and Travis Scott?
Oh, it was fun. Even though I don’t golf, I think I’m the better golfer out of those two.
Last time I saw you, you were about to golf. How’d that go?
Not so good. I’m still learning. [laughs]
What would T.O. of today tell T.O. right before the infamous game of the 50 yard line star controversy?
Just go have fun. Go do you.
What was your welcome to NFL moment?
I don’t know exactly. Probably my first touchdown. When you go into the league, you’re going to have your ebbs and flows of the game. Sometimes as a rookie, you go in and you overwhelmed with a lot of plays. A lot of new familiarities of new teammates, new location, things of that nature. But again, when you score your first touchdown, that’s something special. I’ll always remember that against the Cincinnati Bengals, against Ashley Ambrose.
What three receivers in the NFL right now most resemble your catching ability, athleticism, and style?
Athleticism, probably Julio Jones. DK Metcalf. Trying to think. Style-wise, I have a style on my own. So I don’t know if that can be duplicated.
If you could have played with one QB in history, who would it have been?
Probably Joe Montana. With the West Coast offense and the system I got indoctrinated into, and the way that he played it. Just the routes and things of that nature, obviously playing with Jerry Rice. Just how on point and accurate he was.
Who was one defensive back that you wanted to go up against?
I didn’t really get to play a lot in my prime, at my best against Deion [Sanders]. But I would have loved to have done that.
What are your thoughts on Deion Sanders?
He’s the greatest of all time, at that position. I’m fortunate to be sharing a gold jacket with him, I’m in the Hall of Fame. Again, I never thought I’d be in that conversation when I came out of high school or college. To have achieved a lot of the things I’ve done, to be spoken in the same breath as somebody like that who’s one of the greatest, is very humbling. It’s rewarding at the same time.
Did you get a pair of his glasses?
Nah, I gave him some of mine. I don’t have his yet, but I’ll get some. For sure.
Hip-Hop celebrates 50 years this year. What was the moment you fell in love with Hip-Hop?
Oh man. I don’t know when the moment was, but growing up, listening to different genres of music. I grew up with breakdancing and things of that nature. Listening to my mom and my grandma listening to music from the blues and that sort of music. HipHop, you think about Tupac, Biggie. Those are two of the best right there.
Last question, who’s yo quarterback mannnn?
My favorite? That’s a lot. I would say Ryan Fitzpatrick. I’ll always throw people off when I say that, but he was a very special quarterback. Especially later on in my career when I played with Buffalo, he came in and made some things happen. A lot of people don’t really know how good quarterbacks are until you get to play with them. Aside from watching them play, he was a he was a very cerebral quarterback. Made some plays.
That meant to be the Tony Romo joke, I don’t know if you caught on.
Ahh I know. I kind of got it, but I didn’t get it.
