Many NFL teams have started minicamps in the off-season. Now, although most are optional, many players choose not to attend these trainings. The most notable is Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens. After Owens was released by Dallas, he quickly found a new home in Buffalo, but as always with TO, nothing changes.

Owens decided to miss the first two weeks of optional workouts in Buffalo and says he’s fine doing his normal routine on his own. TO has never pushed for his team and hasn’t been to practice in March since his days as a 49er. Owens is now with the third different team from him since he left the 49ers in 2003 and it hasn’t changed the way he is. Many people felt it would be nice if Owens showed up and showed Buffalo that he was committed, but of course Owens had other plans.

Numerous players have followed Owens and choose to skip practice or wait. Many of these players even pay fines for missing team practices. Cutler has been asking for a trade and hasn’t shown up for camp and thus has already missed out on a $100,000 bonus that he was going to earn. Many of these players don’t have a good reason to miss camp and should be there with the rest of their team, especially if you’re the quarterback who’s supposed to lead them.

The NFL should start imposing stricter penalties on those players who really don’t care if they get fined a few thousand dollars because it’s nothing to them. Athletes make so much money that a few thousand for them to miss practice or camp is nothing more than a slap on the wrist. If players were faced with the decision to miss games without pay, instead, if they missed practices, maybe they’d show up. A team is supposed to function as one and so if one person has to be there, everyone should be there practicing with them.