‘Not a Good Look,’ ‘It’s Disheartening’ — NFL Legend Terrell Owens Urges Shaquille O’Neal To Give Back Honorary FBI Badge, Calling It ‘Trash’

Shaquille O'Neal's long association with law enforcement has come under scrutiny after accepting an honorary FBI Special Agent badge. The ceremonial recognition quickly sparked backlash online, and former NFL star Terrell Owens believes O'Neal made things worse with his response to critics.

Terrell Owens Wants Shaq to Return FBI Badge

Speaking on the "Get To the Point Podcast," Owens criticized O'Neal after FBI Director Kash Patel presented the former NBA and Los Angeles Laker star with an honorary FBI Special Agent badge and plaque during the FBI National Academy's Session 299 graduation ceremony on September 17 in Quantico, Virginia.

Patel praised O'Neal during the ceremony as "one of the best supporters of law enforcement in the country." Owens, however, took issue with the timing of the recognition and O'Neal's response to the backlash.

"And for me, this is disheartening what Shaq did, especially in response to this guy," Owens said on the podcast , referring to Shaq's DM to a guy who burned his jersey as a form of protest.

Owens added that O'Neal could have accepted the honor at another time, saying, "There's timing to everything. There's a time and a place for everything. Maybe you could have gotten this award some other time, but this wasn't the time to do it."

The former NFL star also criticized O'Neal for his response to people who questioned the recognition, particularly his comments mocking their financial situations.

"You're demeaning. You're belittling somebody. You're demeaning people," Owens said. "If that's the case, he's talking to me. I ain't got no billion dollars. I'm broke, too. If that's the case, everybody's broke when compared to him."

Owens said he expected O'Neal to eventually address the controversy and offered him an opportunity to do so on the podcast. "I think, honestly, this is just not a good look," he said, adding that O'Neal could come on the show and explain himself.

Co-host Chris Spencer then made his position clear with a joke, pointing to a trash can where O'Neal could drop his badge after coming on the show. "And we have a little trash can for your badge," Spencer said.

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Owens followed with an even blunter assessment. "That badge, right? That badge is trash," he said, again questioning whether the current political climate was the right moment to accept an honorary agent badge.

Reacting to a clip from the podcast on X, Owens also wrote , "Shaq, We ALL make mistakes or just have poor judgment at times, ME included. BUT…. It's not too late to give that badge back."

O'Neal's ties to law enforcement stretch back more than two decades, including reserve-officer roles in California and Florida and a sheriff's deputy appointment in Georgia.