Terrell Owens offers praise for Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith at charity softball game
The Hall of Famer Owens also offered inspirational words to Eagles veteran Brandon Graham.
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ALLENTOWN — Hall of Famer Terrell Owens has long admired DeVonta Smith from afar.
Owens, a 15-year NFL veteran and five-time All-Pro who starred for the Eagles from 2004-05, grew up a diehard Alabama fan. Smith starred for the Crimson Tide from 2017-20.
Smith’s decorated Alabama tenure included the 2020 Heisman Trophy, and the Eagles drafted him with their top pick in 2021. Through the first two years of his career, Smith has been a smashing hit. In his inaugural season, he set a franchise record for receiving yards by a rookie (916), and this past season, he broke a franchise record for single-season receptions (95).
On Saturday afternoon, Smith hosted his second annual celebrity softball game — with funds raised from the event donated to St. Luke’s University Health Network — at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. Owens played on Smith’s team and he finished as the game’s MVP as Team Smith claimed a 14-5 victory over Team Dotson, which was led by Penn State alumnus and Washington Commanders receiver Jahan Dotson.
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It was a somewhat full-circle moment for Owens, who attended the College Football Playoff national championship game between Alabama and Georgia in 2018, when Smith hauled in the game-winning touchdown reception as a freshman.
“That right there, that was my first time seeing him ball out,” Owens said of Smith. “I’ve admired this guy’s game for so long. He’s been excelling ever since. He’s obviously doing really great things in Philly, where the expectations are high ... his game speaks for itself.”
Before Owens, 49, departed the Lehigh Valley, he approached Eagles captain Brandon Graham, 35, from inside the home clubhouse underneath the home ballpark of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies’ triple A affiliate.
With the Eagles set to begin training camp in July, Owens offered Graham an inspirational message that Graham plans to pass along to this year’s group.
“Jalen Hurts, they’ve got him secured at the quarterback position. Now, they just have to stay healthy,” Owens said. “They’ve got a good roster. They’ve assembled together a great team. They came up short this past year. But they were a few plays away from winning a championship.
“BG, he already knows. They need to take it one game at a time. The goal is to win the Super Bowl. They can’t look too far ahead, but everybody knows what’s at stake.”