"He's happy now," Crayton said in comparing the Owens of 2007 to last season. "Look at him. He's happy."

A giddy Owens doesn't deny feeling good about himself and his life these days.

On the football field and off.

Physically and emotionally.

It's all good with Owens, who is playing as well as any receiver in the NFL in 2007 and is at peace with himself for the first time in years.

On the anniversary of his accidental overdose of painkillers and supplements and the ensuing national media firestorm the following day, even Owens couldn't help but acknowledge the obvious.

"What a difference a year makes," Owens said. "It's a lot of fun right now. It's been awhile since I've had fun. It's very enjoyable, especially with the guys in the locker room. This is what I envisioned this team could be, even last year. It just makes it that much more special. The big picture looks brighter and brighter every week."

Sure, a lot of Owens' good feelings have to do with the success the Cowboys are having and the major role he's playing in the team's undefeated start.

The change in coaches from Bill Parcells — who refused to call him by his name and didn't heavily involve him in the offense — to Wade Phillips has greatly affected Owens' outlook. Phillips and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett have made a point to get Owens the ball as much as possible.

While Owens doesn't want to be remembered for the accidental overdose, which was initially reported as an attempted suicide, he says the events of Sept. 26-27, 2006, impacted his life.

"It was a scary situation if it had been true," Owens said. "It makes me appreciate life. When you get lemons, you make lemonade. I am trying to make lemonade with a little extra sugar."

But then the combination of trying to live up to expectations on the field and disappointment in his personal life led to a combustible mix even before an allergic reaction to painkillers and supplements resulted in him being rushed to Baylor Medical Center in Dallas.

Owens came to Dallas the previous March promising to be a better man and teammate after being discarded by the Philadelphia Eagles.

However, it didn't take long for the turmoil to begin. He skipped the off-season program and then missed 21 days in training camp with a hamstring injury, causing friction with Parcells, before suffering a broken hand in the second game of the season. Adding to Owens' disappointment was his former fiancee ending their relationship on Sept. 25.

One day later, a frustrated Owens admittedly took some extra pain pills with his supplements following a therapy session at his home.

Not long after, his publicist Kim Etheredge found him unresponsive and made the decision to call 911.

According to the initial police affidavit, Owens responded "yes" when asked if he was trying to harm himself. Even though he later said he was too incoherent to answer clearly and it later was classified as an accidental overdose, the result was a media firestorm when he was released from the hospital Sept. 27.

CNN, ESPN, Fox News Channel and all the major networks joined hundreds of area media at his Deep Ellum home before following him to the Cowboys' Valley Ranch training complex for a news conference and the regrettable "Terrell has $25 million reasons to live" comment from Etheredge.

"I just remember thinking, 'What is going on?"' Cowboys linebacker Bradie James said. "It was just crazy. There were more people here than I'd ever seen."

Owens had no interest in pausing this week to reflect on the events of last year because he did that numerous times in 2006.

But in order to move on, he said he had to learn how to forgive.

He made amends with trainer Buddy Primm, whom he fired for elaborating too much to the media. He apologized to Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb for his role in their acrimony in Philadelphia.

And he is back on friendly terms with Etheredge, with whom he parted ways a few weeks after the incident.

She runs a successful hair product company, Mixedchicks.net, which sponsored Macy Gray's World Tour.

"Terrell Owens and I will always be friends," said Etheredge. "He is an outstanding human being and he is having a terrific season. I don't expect anything less from Terrell."

And why not? He's at peace and finally feeling at home with the Cowboys.