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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

NFL teams are preparing for the first full weekend of exhibition games. So naturally it’s time to start talking about players’ sex lives. In an interview in the next issue of Playboy, Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens suggests that quarterback Jeff Garcia, a former teammate with the 49ers, is gay. He’s not the first to say that. Garcia, who now plays for the Browns, has not publicly reacted to Owens’ charge. But here’s irony for you: Garcia’s girlfriend was at the Browns’ practice on Tuesday. Her name is Carmella DeCesare and she’s the 2004 Playboy Playmate of the Year.

Previous Comments

Considering the high *cough* editoral standards of Playboy… oh who are we kidding? Playboy is just lucky it has Sex to sell, otherwise the Enquirer would have it beat for journalistic quality.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.