Bills receiver Owens introduces his T.O.’s breakfast cereal
Where T.O. goes, his fans follow.
Or so it seemed on Thursday, when around 400 people — some clutching footballs, many wearing No. 81 Buffalo Bills jerseys — flocked to the Tops Friendly Markets store in Perinton to see Terrell Owens unveil his breakfast cereal.
They screamed his name and clamored for his autograph. One woman even proposed. For the record, T.O. politely declined.
“I feel more pressure selling these boxes of T.O.’s than going out and scoring touchdowns,” said Owens, the charismatic NFL star wide receiver as he showed off T.O.’s Honey Nut Toasted Oats.
“It’s a breakfast thing of choice,” he said with a huge smile. “This is equivalent to (being on a box) of Wheaties. It’s better than Wheaties.”
Probably because this box has his smiling face. “That beautiful, handsome face,” as T.O. put it.
“I love T.O.,” said Val Eddy of Walworth, Wayne County.
Said her mother, Barb Eddy: “I wasn’t a T.O. fan but I am now. He’s making people want to watch the Bills.”
People like Linda Shipman of Rochester, a self-proclaimed Dallas Cowboys fan whose loyalty to T.O. means “I’ll have to come over to the bandwagon.”
T.O.’s cereal was devised by Ty Ballou, president of PLB Sports, the people who created Flutie Flakes a decade ago for Tops.
Ballou said 2.8 million boxes of Flutie Flakes were sold and expects T.O.’s to be more popular.
“We’ve sold 11,000 boxes already and he hasn’t caught his first touchdown pass yet,” said Frank Curci, CEO of Tops.
