‘“He represents the emergence of the modern, 21st century celebrity that would include people like Paris Hilton and the Kardashians,” said Robert Thompson, a pop-culture expert at Syracuse University. “But in the case of Paris Hilton and the Kardashians, people were always saying things like, ‘They are just famous for being famous. They couldn’t actually do anything.’ That certainly wasn’t the case for Terrell Owens.”’