Please bear with me for a little bit, because I have some hostility to get off my chest in the direction of Tony Romo. Yes, it has been nearly a month into the NFL season and I have yet to condemn Romo’s ability or question his passion for the game of Football; until now. Ask anybody and they will tell you that I am an ardent supporter of anything having to do with the Dallas Cowboys. I bleed silver and blue, it’s a part of who I am and a part of what I am about. Despite my disdain for Romo’s surfacing prima donna attitude, I have (more often than not) kept quiet about my feelings towards #9 and have remained highly supportive of him (unless you count the time last year when he broke his pinky and I applauded), simply because he was (and to steal a line from Terrell Owens) MY quarterback.
For 3 years I lived under the mantra that the Cowboys won and lost as a team. It didn’t matter if Romo played bad and they won, or if he played terrific and they lost, it was a team effort. Well, after 3 years of hearing about him dating country singers, making commercials, vacationing in Mexico the week of the big playoff game, playing professional golf, or whatever other excuse you can dream of to explain the failures of a franchise, I can finally say, without a shadow of doubt; it’s on Romo.
Winning and losing as “a team” can only take you so far. At the end of the day, you can’t blame the coaches for a team failing to execute (although Wade Phillips sure makes it hard to do that). You can’t blame the owner/General Manager for butting into areas of game management where he doesn’t belong (although Jerry Jones sure makes it hard to do that). No, the blame for defeat or praise for victory lies with one and only one person; the quarterback. In this case, it happens to be Tony Romo.
As a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, life has not been too pleasant in the land of the big D for much of the last decade. The Cowboys, winning an impressive 3 Super Bowl titles in a 4 year span in the early 1990’s, have not won a playoff game since 1996. A 40 to 15 victory over the Minnesota Vikings was the last time the Cowboys played deep into the heart of January during the NFL season. Barry Switzer is the last Cowboys head coach to win a playoff game. Since his departure following the 1997 season, Cowboy fans have endured an un-impressive two year coaching stint from Chan Gailey (thanks for the 8 and 10 win seasons, with nothing to show for it), the worst coach in Cowboys history Dave Campo (you actually won 15 games in 3 years? I didn’t think it was that many), a guy who has turned around more franchises while sporting the dumbest nickname ever (Tuna) in Bill Parcells and for the past three seasons, Wade Phillips. What do the Cowboys have to show for it? Nothing. Zilch.
But, Cowboy fans remained supportive; after all, they didn’t have a quarterback during that time. It’s true. Troy Aikman wasn’t “Troy Aikman” any more. To say he was a shell of his former self would be an understatement. Once Aikman retired following the 2000 season, the revolving door of Dallas Cowboy quarterbacks began.
Being the Quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys is the most publicized pressure filled position in all of sports (all due respect to being the Centerfielder of the Yankees, the Cowboys is more important). Throughout the history of the Cowboys there have been two franchise quarterbacks who lived up to the hype and billing of being THE guy for “America’s Team”; Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman (all due respect to Don Meredith, Danny White and Steve Pelluer, but, you guys sucked). The Cowboys have won 5 Super Bowls as a franchise and three of them were Aikman and the other two were Staubach. Needless to say, not many people have played at a consistently high level for Dallas.
The search for the next franchise quarterback began in earnest following the 2000 season and continued on for the next 6 years until Romo stepped in. Quincy Carter, Anthony Wright, Ryan Leaf, Clint Stoerner, Chad Hutchinson, Vinny Testaverde, Drew Henson and Drew Bledsoe all had their chances to lead the Cowboys back to the playoffs and find a new level of success. To say they all failed would be an inaccuracy. While there’s no doubt in my mind Ryan Leaf was a train wreck and Anthony Wright was forgettable, Clint Stoerner plays for Team Arkansas in the All-American Football league, Chad Hutchinson can rest assured that his professional baseball career was far worse than his pro-football career, same with Drew Henson. Vinny Testaverde can at least resign himself to the fact that he played for 25% of the league in his career.
If not for the combined efforts of Quincy Carter and Drew Bledsoe, Tony Romo would have never been given a chance to play in Dallas. (we’ll get back to that in a minute, but first I want to get to the root of the problem with Romo). The career of Tony Romo can be summarized with two words; Who knew? Who knew that a guy would be signed from relative obscurity to be a Dallas Cowboy, simply because one of the coaches on the team went to the same college and heard good things? Tony Romo didn’t go to a big-time athletic school with a chiseled out collegiate program that prepares you for the NFL. Nope. Romo went to Eastern Illinois, a college nobody has heard of, nobody knows where it is, nor does anybody really care. After his senior year, nobody in the NFL wanted him and he went undrafted.
But, there he was, signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent at the insistence of then assistant head coach Sean Payton. What Sean Payton saw in him that no other coach (other than former Bronco’s coach Mike Shanahan) nobody will ever know, but he saw something that warranted a contract and a roster spot. In 2004, Romo, then the emergency quarterback, was facing being cut from the roster the first week of training camp. However, thanks to the drug problems that “Cokehead Quincy” Carter suffered from and his overall poor attitude during camp, Romo was retained and Carter was released. See? Dallas fans can thank Quincy Carter for Tony Romo having a job right now.
A mere 2 years later, Romo finally got his chance; I was there to see it on October 23, 2006, Texas Stadium, Giants vs. Cowboys on Monday Night Football. After another underwhelming 1st half performance from Cowboys quarterback Drew Bledsoe, amid boos and chants of “We want Romo”, the switch was finally made. At the start of the 2nd half, in front of a crowd of 63,512 crazed Dallas fans (and my wonderful family of Giants fans, whom I wouldn’t even sit with at the game), Romo trotted onto the field and begun taking practice throws, signaling to the crowd that he would be taking over the quarterback position for the Cowboys; the rollercoaster ride would begin.
Greeted by a standing ovation and chants of “Romo, Romo”, the Drew Bledsoe era had officially been given the Old Yeller treatment and a new era was ushered in. The results were largely unimpressive in his first prolonged taste of NFL action throwing 3 interceptions, but there were flashes of brilliance. With Romo behind center, fans were on the edge of their seats with every drop back, every dazzling scramble to avoid taking a sack, every throw sailing majestically into the Dallas night; a star was born that night in Texas.
The first highlight reel play from Romo came late in the 4th quarter, the outcome of the game already decided (resounding victory by the Giants), Romo unleashed a dazzling bomb to a wide open Patrick Crayton for a 53 yard touchdown pass. As the remaining crowd leapt to their feet with excitement, it wasn’t the fact that the Cowboys scored that we were cheering about, it was the fact that for the first time in 6 years, we had something to cheer about.
Two days later, on October 25, Tony Romo was announced as the new starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. In his first career start against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday Night Football in front of a national televised audience, Romo dazzled yet again, leading the Cowboys to a 35 – 14 victory and a media darling was created.
Tony Romo became the new hit of the NFL. Leading the Cowboys to impressive victories over the undefeated Indianapolis Colts on November 19th and a Thanksgiving Day victory over Tampa Bay which saw Romo throw a career high 5 touchdown passes, Romo was leading the charge to get the Cowboys back into the playoffs.
How was he doing this? How did this nobody from a school I can’t even locate on a map lead the Dallas Cowboys to the forefront of the NFC after years of failure? It’s simple, he was playing the game in a way that his Cowboy quarterbacking predecessors Bledsoe, Hutchinson, Carter, etc didn’t; with passion. Tony Romo played the position with a youthful enthusiasm that was rarely seen in Dallas for as long as I, or anyone can remember. With the somber and boring Drew Bledsoe, the Cowboys played just that, somber and boring. There was no excitement, no fire, no heart, from the team or fans in the crowd. Every minute of every quarter, for every game, for every season, it was just as if we were going through the motions, the game lacked a certain feel, whether it be hopefulness or joyousness to be watching “America’s Team” play. Tony Romo brought those feelings back. Tony Romo saved the Dallas Cowboys franchise on that cool Monday night in October 2006. He was the new sheriff in town. The new gunslinger in town ready to topple the NFC and lead the Cowboys back to the Super Bowl.
Or, so we thought. There was only one problem with that whole theory. Nobody knew that Tony Romo was lacking the most important gene that can be wired into an NFL player’s psyche; fortitude. Romo played with passion, he played with heart, but he would wilt under the pressure quicker than Alex Rodriguez in October. The first example of this was made clear in the 2006 playoffs as the Cowboys played the Seattle Seahawks in the first round. With 1:19 left on the clock and Dallas trailing 21 – 20, the Cowboys attempted a 19-yard field goal for the win; an easy chip shot, the 2nd round was in our sights. As the ball was snapped and Romo caught it to hold for Mike Vanderjagt, the unthinkable happened; he bobbled the ball, the kick was blown, the game was lost and the tears began to flow. As Tony Romo sat on the field with his hands on his head shaking in disbelief, I sat in a friends basement sobbing like a little school boy who was told there was no Santa Claus.
The next season began and it was more of what Romo had done in the previous season when he stepped into the starter’s role. Excitement, jubilation, smiles on the sidelines, exhibiting true joy in not only playing football, but being a part of this team. But, it all began to change exactly one year to the day of his first career start. On October 29, 2007, Romo was given a six-year $67.5 million contract extension with the Cowboys. Two weeks later he began dating pop-star Jessica Simpson (ughhhhhhhhhhhh) and the downward spiral would begin.
Romo finished off the 2007 regular season breaking the all-time Dallas record for touchdowns and completions in a season, leading the Cowboys to a 13 – 3 record and a playoff date with the New York Giants (who the Cowboys had manhandled twice previously in the season). What happened? Oh, it’s just those pressure situations we spoke of before. You know the rest. Romo chokes. Cowboys lose. Giants win the Super Bowl. My family rejoices and I shorten my life expectancy by at least 7 years with the amount of alcohol I consumed to get over my grief of yet another failed playoff venture.
The 2008 season was one of the biggest disappointments in Dallas Cowboy history. Being labeled as a Super Bowl contending favorite, the Cowboys faltered down the stretch during the last month of the season (which has become classic Romo due to his 5 – 8 career record in the month of December) and they failed to make the playoffs. It was midway thru the 2008 season that I had realized what was wrong with Romo; he lost his passion.
Call me crazy, call me a cynic, call me whatever you like; I stand by this statement; Tony Romo lost his passion for football and it became all about the stardom. Therein lies the problem. Before he received that wealthy extension with the Cowboys, Romo was just another guy who got a chance to play a game he loved as a living. Once he hit pay dirt, you could instantly see his eyes go “cha-ching”. Weeks later he’s become some sort of Hollywood party goer with Jessica Simpson. Months after that, in the week leading up to the biggest game of his career (the aforementioned playoff meltdown against New York), instead of preparing for the contest, what does he do? Flies to Mexico for a little love on the sand with his bosomy blonde bimbo Simpson. Hallelujah at least we know he scored at some point in the month of January in his NFL career (wow, that was a tasteless cheap shot and I don’t even care).
Bottom line is simple; at some point Romo stopped being about football and began thinking about life outside of football and becoming a mega-star. It’s no secret that Romo is an avid amateur golfer and has attempted to qualify for the PGA tour (and hey, guess what? Failed at that too. He chokes at two sports!). He is also a frequent guest on local sports radio programs in the Dallas area and even hosted his own sports radio program. He’s featured in commercials and TV ads, you get the picture. At some point it became less about being the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and more about being Tony Romo, rising star.
If you don’t believe me, just watch him play now compared to two years ago. Everything is different. Sure, most of the statistics are the same (right up to the usual December meltdown), but the body language is different. He doesn’t have the same loose attitude and jovial demeanor he exhibited when he became the toast of the town in 2006. The smiles on the sidelines have diminished. It stopped being about playing a game and having fun and just seems like it’s something he does to get paid to do. After a week 17 annihilation at the hands of the Eagles last season, Romo finished off his post game press conference with this doozy of a quote when asked about how he’ll deal with another loss and not going to the playoffs:
“I wake up tomorrow and I keep living”
The quarreling with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett has increased. He alienated his star receiver Terrell Owens (call him a bad teammate if you like, but he was never a problem in Dallas) and ultimately led to his release. Even today I read reports that Romo and current receiver Roy Williams are having trouble getting on the same page. This is NOT the same Tony Romo that won the hearts of millions of Cowboy fans over the world. That’s the Tony Romo I cheered for. This Tony Romo I want to see benched and ridden out of town. I don’t want this Romo as my quarterback. He doesn’t belong.
He had the opportunity to be a franchise altering quarterback for the Cowboys and be this generation of Cowboy fans Troy Aikman. Instead, he’s already lost my faith and has begun to lose the faith of Dallas fans across the nation. Only one man can fix this and it’s Romo himself. He needs to take a good, long, hard look in the mirror and decide what he wants to be. Does he want to be just another NFL star who had a good career, made a lot of money and ventured off into other avenues? Or, does he want to be one of the next great players in this league and lead his team to a cavalcade of accolades? In my heart I always felt it would prove to be the latter, these days I feel like it’s going to be the former.
All I know the joy I used to have in watching the Cowboys play every Sunday is slowly diminishing with each incomplete pass and seeming indifferent attitude over failure that Romo exhibits now. He’s not the same man and I don’t think he will ever lead this team to the level people think he can. It just isn’t in his genetic makeup. Some people that ability to rise to the occasion, with your back against the wall and lead your team to a level of play you didn’t think existed, while others don’t. Tom Brady has it. Donovan McNabb doesn’t. Peyton Manning has it. Jay Cutler doesn’t. Eli Manning most certainly has it. Jamarcus Russell most certainly doesn’t. Brett Favre had it and has shown glimpses even in his old age that he still does. Tony Romo’s idol is Brett Favre, maybe he should study some film of old #4 and see what true heart is all about.
That’s what it’ll come down to for Romo in the end. He either has the heart of a warrior and a true competitive spirit a la Brett Favre, who despite his constant flip flopping on if he’s retiring or playing, has never once shown a lack of heart, or he doesn’t. Favre plays the game day in and day out today with the same passion and excitement he did 20 years ago. That’s the kind of man I want as my quarterback. That’s the man I thought was my quarterback on that Monday evening in Texas 3 years ago when I stood up and cheered with my eyes beaming with fervent excitement. As the games tread on and Romo’s lackadaisical play continues, I grow more and more weary of the bleak future for the Cowboys.
You’re 29 years old now Tony. What have you won? Nothing. So often you are compared to Troy Aikman for your talents and god given abilities. Well, Troy Aikman had 3 Super Bowl titles by the time he was 29.
With a matchup in Denver tomorrow afternoon, all eyes will be on Romo. He’s coming off 3 straight weeks of shaky performances, following a disappointing pre-season and an off-season in which he spent more time on the putting green than he did in the film room. It’s entirely up to Romo. Find the passion you once had for the game and get it back, before it’s too late. The excuse that you’re a young quarterback no longer plays into effect. The time is now to either take the road less travelled and become one of the elite, or go down the path of so many before you and just be “some guy who went to work every Sunday to collect a check”.
I don’t know if he’ll ever regain that look in his eyes that he used to have, but I can hope. But, until that day, there’s only one thing I can do in the meantime;
Wake up tomorrow and keep living
My God this is long lol.
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