Ex-Vikings Hall of Famer Paul Krause: 'I don't know who T.O. thinks he is'

As a Pro Football Hall of Fame selector, it's gotten old being asked about Terrell Owens' decision to boycott this year's enshrinement ceremony because he felt slighted by not being selected until his third year of eligibility.

So, given an opportunity to ask rather than field the question, it was pitched to someone who outranks this selector by 81 career interceptions and one gold jacket.

While working on a story about Vikings cornerback Terence Newman, the active NFL career leader in interceptions with 42, Vikings Hall of Famer Paul Krause was called on to talk interceptions and whether he thinks his record will be broken.

Krause has held that mark since 1979. And yet he waited until his 13th year of eligibility before being chosen for the Hall of Fame in 1998.

"I don't know who T.O. thinks he is," said Krause, "but I waited a lot longer than he did."

Krause went on to say that he doesn't consider Owens a Hall of Famer and is so upset with the Hall of Fame for allowing Owens to skip his enshrinement that he may never go back to Canton.

"I feel that T.O. is not in the Hall of Fame until he goes up in front of everybody else, receives his jacket and gets his ring, and makes a speech," Krause said. "Everybody else did. Over 300 guys did it, so what makes him think that he's that good that he doesn't need to do it? I don't care if he's ever in there."

Krause didn't approve of Owens staging his own enshrinement speech at his alma mater, Tennessee-Chattanooga.

"And you know what?" he said. "It's not over. [The Hall of Fame] teed a lot of guys off by giving T.O. his jacket. They teed a lot of Hall of Famers off, and this is not over.

"I think they have started something. What makes the next guy, what's he going to do? If he doesn't want to come, he still gets his jacket? That's the worst thing that pro football has done in a long time because it degrades everybody in the Hall of Fame and everybody that's trying to get to the Hall of Fame.

"All I can say is I might never go back again, and I know a lot of guys are thinking that. That has degraded everything about going to the Hall of Fame. I'm sick of it."