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Terrell Owens offered his side of the story at a Wednesday afternoon news conference.

NEWS 8 EXCLUSIVE

Just hours after News 8 first broadcast details of a Dallas police report that said Dallas Cowboys star receiver Terrell Owens attempted suicide Tuesday night, Owens was back at the Cowboys' Valley Ranch training center catching some passes from quarterback Drew Bledsoe.

"There was no suicide attempt," Owens said. "The rumor of me taking 35 pills, I think, is absurd. I don't think I would be here had I taken 35 pills."

Owens also said he wanted to dispel any rumors that he had had his stomach pumped. "That is definitely untrue," he said.

A police report said Owens, who broke his right hand in a Sept. 17 game, took prescription pain pills. The report said a woman told police she observed Owens putting two pills in his mouth.

According to the police narrative, the woman said the prescription of 40 pills was filled on September 18 and—until Tuesday—Owens had taken only five pills.

The police report said Owens was asked if he had taken the rest of the prescription; Owens said, "Yes."

According to the report, police also asked if he was trying to harm himself. Owens answered, "Yes."

Owens was treated at Baylor University Medical Center.

"He seemed to be in good spirits and looked like he was looking forward to getting back on the field as soon as he could," quarterback Bledsoe said. "I was happy to see him here and happy to see him running around and going. ... Obviously, he's doing fine."

Owens told a close friend that prescription drug overdose was a "mistake."

Owens gave a "thumbs up" sign to reporters as he left the hospital Wednesday morning, got into a sport utility vehicle and was driven away.

T.O.'s friend and former Cowboys star, Michael Irvin, said he talked with Owens by telephone on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning.

"He said, 'Michael, I'm trying to get back on the football field. I went out catching passes yesterday, and when I got home, my hand was really hurting,'" Irvin quoted Owens as saying. "'I mistakenly took a lot of supplements with painkillers and I took too many of them.'"

Former Cowboys star Deion Sanders said he also talked to Owens and the receiver "laughed at that notion" of it being a suicide attempt. He added that Owens was in good spirits.

"It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders told the NFL Network, where he works as an analyst.

An increasingly agitated Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells met with reporters Wednesday afternoon, saying he didn't yet have a "clear picture" of what happened to Owens.

"Let me find out what the heck's going on," Parcells said. "I don't think something of this nature is what I would term a distraction. It's apparently a set of unfortunate circumstances and I'd rather be clear on what they are before I comment on the future."

Parcells said he planned to continue getting his team ready for the next game at Tennessee on Sunday.

"When I find out what the hell is going on, you will know. Until then, I'm not getting interrogated for no reason," Parcells said as he angrily left the news conference after being peppered with Owens-related questions for nine minutes.

Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple offered this brief statement Wednesday afternoon: "We have been in the process of trying to determine the facts regarding his medical condition. Our concerns right now are for his health and well-being."

Dalrymple said the Cowboys could not comment on Owens' playing status until the team receives additional information about his condition.

"This is stunning news, obviously, and incredibly surprising that a man in this position would reach this level of depression," said WFAA-TV sports director Dale Hansen. "There's something terribly wrong here, and hopefully we'll find out as the day goes on."

At a news conference, police spokesman Lt. Rick Watson confirmed that Dallas Fire-Rescue requested police officers in the 3800 block of Commerce Street Tuesday night. "When the officers got there, they were greeted by the paramedics who were treating Mr. Owens," he said.

"We determined at this time this is not a criminal offense," Lt. Watson said, refusing to answer any specific questions about the incident.

"If you want the 911 tape, you'll have to make the request to the fire department," Lt. Watson added.

Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Joel Lavender said paramedics responded to the call for help within three minutes and were able to transport the patient to the "nearest medical facility" in less than one minute.

He declined to provide further details about the incident. "This isn't just a minor issue; this is coast-to-coast, and that's why you're all here," Lavender said to the throng of reporters peppering him with questions.

Hansen said a source at the Cowboys' Valley Ranch headquarters told him that doors to all offices were closed early Wednesday.

The player's publicist didn't immediately return calls for comment.

Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.

When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill—who mostly deals with troubled players—said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.

Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was going down.

While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and today was only Tuesday.

"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.

Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.

Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

E-mail rlopez@wfaa.com