Apparently someone hit him with a tire iron and knocked some sense into him.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Arlen Specter backed off a threat to have a Senate subcommittee investigate whether the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles violated antitrust laws in their handling of Terrell Owens.

Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said yesterday that he talked to lawyers in the Department of Justice about the issue.

"I think it's more a matter for them than us because we've got . . . a lot of matters which take precedence over this for our own time," said Specter (R-Pa).

Yeah, that's a decent CYA maneuver -- backing off without quite looking like you made a mistake in the first place.

It reminds me of a song.

Brave Sir Arlen ran away
Bravely ran away away
When danger reared its ugly head
he bravely turned his tail and fled.
Yes brave Sir Arlen turned about
and gallantly he chickened out.