The Cowboys knew the risks of bringing in T.O.

Timothy Treadwell's story doesn't have a single thing to do with the NFL.

The plot, however, has everything to do with the Dallas Cowboys' employment of Terrell Owens.

Treadwell spent something like 13 seasons living in proximity to grizzly bears in Alaska. He touched them, named them and ultimately he was eaten by one of them. These were, after all, grizzly bears.

The story spawned a documentary, "Grizzly Man" by German filmmaker Werner Herzog. Treadwell's life was extraordinary, the film captivating and his death could be called many things. Shocking is not one of them, however. Can it really be considered a surprise that a guy who spent so much time within a paw's swipe of grizzly bears eventually met his end in the mouth of one?

And that brings us to Owens, or more accurately, the Cowboys. They knew the risks when they brought him aboard in 2006. They signed up for a wide receiver of sensational talent and a singular obsession: himself.

He'll score a touchdown and run to midfield to celebrate on the opponent's logo (see: San Francisco 49ers, circa 2000). He'll do sit-ups in his driveway for television cameras after being sent home (see: Philadelphia Eagles, circa 2005).

The idea that Owens would make his role a cause of civic concern now, when Dallas is 3-1 and considered a Super Bowl front-runner, well that's about as surprising as a guy who spent his summers with grizzly bears winding up as a Happy Meal.

The Cowboys have one of the best offenses in the league, and the only blemish so far is a two-point loss to Washington last week. There are 23 teams in the league that would trade records with Dallas.

But Owens caught only 10 passes the first three games of the season and after he finished with two receptions for 17 yards against Green Bay, people all over Dallas suddenly became at risk of slipping a disk because they were bending over backward to massage his ego.

People pointed out his block on Felix Jones' 60-yard touchdown run. Others lauded the way he chased down Green Bay safety Nick Collins after a 61-yard interception. Yes, that's right, he was being hailed for a tackle on an interception an opponent returned more than half the length of the field. Consider that a warning sign because people in Dallas knew the diva was peeved.

And even after he caught seven passes for 71 yards in last week's game against Washington, that wasn't enough. Not even if you consider there were 11 more passes intended for him that fell incomplete. He even carried the ball twice, yet when he was asked after the game if he got the ball enough, he said no.

That spawned a week of dialogue in which Owens used his own radio show to say he's not miffed at quarterback Tony Romo. Then owner Jerry Jones, on his own radio show, said the team should "overly" try to get Owens the ball.

Wait. The team is still 3-1, right?

Yes, and that guy Tim Treadwell might have been making wonderful videos of all these bears, but he was still hanging out with grizzlies. Danger was an unavoidable part of that equation. Same goes for counting on Owens to be a cog in a championship contender, because whenever the going gets tough, he looks out for himself and not for the other 10 guys around him. He has a real hard time when people aren't genuflecting in front of him.

He is second in career touchdown catches behind Jerry Rice, but do you know the last time Owens' team won a playoff game he played in? It was January 2003. In the past eight years, his teams have won two playoff games he watched and only one in which he played.

Remember when Owens sniffled after that playoff loss last season in Green Bay about Romo being "his" quarterback? Well, there's a reason Owens has never referred to himself as Romo's receiver. Owens doesn't see himself anywhere other than the center of the world.

The biggest problem with Dallas' offense last week was not a lack of opportunities for Owens. It was the fact that Jones, the first-round pick from Arkansas, didn't touch the ball on offense. He scored on a 60-yard run against Green Bay and returned a kickoff 98 yards against Philadelphia, yet he didn't have a single carry against Washington.

Now, Owens might very well go out and catch four touchdown passes today against Cincinnati, and then the spotlight will be right back where he wants it: squarely on him. That egomania is burned into his hard drive. The Cowboys should have known it when they signed him, and they definitely know it now.

They chose to live with the risks — just like Treadwell did with those bears in Alaska.

Now, T.O. is much more benign than a 500-pound grizzly, but if the Cowboys' season turns up D.O.A. in their first playoff game for a third consecutive season, the empty ending can be considered about as shocking as the grisly conclusion to "Grizzly Man."

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com