Terrell Owens excited to join Fan Controlled Football, open to NFL return

Terrell Owens can't wait to return to the football field.

The Hall of Fame wide receiver is joining the Fan Controlled Football league and is expected to team up with quarterback Johnny Manziel as a member of the Zappers, according to ESPN's Tim McManus.

"I'm looking forward to throwing with Johnny or whoever the quarterback may be," Owens said. "If it's Johnny Football - it doesn't matter if it's Pee-wee Herman - as long as they throw the ball where it needs to be and ... put it in my catch radius, I'm going to do my best to make some stuff happen with it."

Owens, 48, believes he can still play at a high level. Though he last appeared in an NFL game in 2010, he has never considered himself retired from the league.

"I wasn't given the opportunity to play. That doesn't mean I retired," he said. "Has Colin Kaepernick retired? (He's not in the NFL) because he hasn't been given an opportunity."

Owens thinks age is just a number.

"If Tom Brady can do it, if they can marvel at some of the things he's done, I'm no different than Tom," Owens said of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, who turns 45 in August.

He added: "I just don't like the notion that people see it, even in the National Football League, it's almost like, OK, you've reached a certain age at whatever point in time in your life, and they feel like you can't play anymore or your skills decline to a degree.

"Of course, everybody's skills at some point may decline, but I think there are certain people that kind of defy those odds, and I think I'm one of those people."

Owens, who will interview guests on the sideline as a part of an alternate game-day broadcast, is happy to help the Fan Controlled Football league expand.

"If (another NFL opportunity) arises or comes about because of playing in Fan Controlled Football league because they see me take hits ... then so be it," he said. "But that's not what I'm actively pursuing. It's a partnership with Fan Controlled Football league. It's to help grow what they're trying to do."

Fan Controlled Football is a seven-on-seven league that features eight teams and allows fans to call plays. The league's second season begins April 16.

Owens, who earned six Pro Bowl berths across 15 NFL seasons, retired from the league in 2010 with the third-most receiving yards (15,934) and touchdown catches (153) in NFL history. The 1996 third-round pick also ranks eighth all time with 1,078 receptions.