Cowboys formally release Terrell Owens

IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys officially released Terrell Owens on Thursday, ending a three-year run that produced as many big headlines as big plays.

Owens caught more touchdown passes than any NFL receiver over the last three years and was a big part of Tony Romo's emergence from an unknown backup quarterback to a starlet-dating Pro Bowler with a $67 million contract.

Yet the Cowboys never won a playoff game in those three years, and didn't even make the playoffs this past season. Dallas' late-season collapse which bottomed out with a lackluster performance in a win-and-you're-in finale in Philadelphia emphasized that a new attitude was needed, and dumping T.O. shows that Jerry Jones is addressing that.