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Updated: January 3, 2011, 5:26 PM
Follow The Leader
Eatman: Romo's Leadership Skills Always A Hot Topic
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Email | Follow nickeatman on Twitter
Tony Romo said he hopes to organize practices and workouts in case of a work-stoppage.
IRVING, Texas - With some kind of fruit smoothie in one hand, and what appeared to be his playbook in the other, Tony Romo was headed out the doors of Valley Ranch on Monday.
The players were wrapping up their exit interviews with the coaches and packing up their lockers. And a few of them even made some time for reporters.
Keeping with his 10-week theme since he first injured his collarbone, Romo didn't make himself available to the media. But on this day, probably his last at the complex for a little while, he at least hung around to chat for a little bit.
While he talked about a few things, the word "leadership" seemed to come up a few times. At this point, the Cowboys' quarterback pretty much scoffs at the notion that he's not a leader. And he even questions the people who suggest the sort, wondering how they would ever know what he does behind closed doors or in closed practices.
While we'll get to his leadership, I did think it was interesting that he groups this most recent line of criticism into a ring of many others that he's faced along the way.
"You're always going to be questioned about something," Romo said. "Let me fumble the ball five times in a row and I'll be called a fumbler. If it's not one thing, it's another. I've gone through 20 different things. But the reality is, you have to win."
At the end of every answer Romo gave on this Monday morning, it pretty much ended with winning.
At least Romo understands that the root of every line of criticism stems from his lack of success. And not just a few games here and there, and a division title or two, or even three Pro Bowls. Romo knows why he gets a few random shots from media and fans, and he understands the latest gripe is about his leadership, or lack thereof.
So how does he fix it?
"I just think you win," Romo said. "You have to win. You're a very good leader when you start to win. That's what we're going to do. You have to win the big game. That's where all your credibility comes from. You have to win the Super Bowl. Until then, you can only be so good."
But don't confuse those words as complaining. Romo followed that up by saying he wouldn't want the standards to be any lower.
"That's the way it should be. That's the way I think of great players," Romo said of winning championships. "That's what you want. Otherwise, you're just out there playing a sport."
So back to leadership.
Again, that's one of those things that is always hard to prove. Just like a team having chemistry or guys being disciplined. It's also easy to say and use as a reason when things go wrong.
The beef with Romo has been that he's not the intense in-your-face guy that will jump all over a receiver for dropping a pass or running a bad route, or his linemen for missing a block. But to Romo, he views most of that as just for show.
"I think if you talk to any coach or any player, you have to be yourself," Romo said. "To me, waving your arms so the camera sees you, doesn't do anything for anyone. Yeah, it's easy to do that and I might get credit from the media for yelling at a guy … but I think I'm smart enough to understand when the fakeness is involved.
"So going over and standing there and pointing a finger at someone's face when the camera is on you, that stuff seems like you're just doing it for perception. You don't do that. To win football games, the way to do it is to tell him and get on him at the right times. I do it when you guys don't see it and watch."
Romo has always claimed to be harder on his offensive players in practice than he is on the sidelines. Again, those are things that people like me, and fans like you, can't really dispute because we're not there.
As for Romo, that's another knock on him - just being around. He's really not a locker-room guy. He doesn't hang with the guys that we see. He doesn't sit in there and play cards or dominoes.
To be blunt, Romo isn't really one of the guys anymore. And that's a shame because when he first got here back in 2003 and he was just a bottom-of-the-roster player, that's all he was. Just a guy.
Now, he's not that way anymore. Maybe it's because he'll be
Follow The Leader
Eatman: Romo's Leadership Skills Always A Hot Topic
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Email | Follow nickeatman on Twitter
Tony Romo said he hopes to organize practices and workouts in case of a work-stoppage.
IRVING, Texas - With some kind of fruit smoothie in one hand, and what appeared to be his playbook in the other, Tony Romo was headed out the doors of Valley Ranch on Monday.
The players were wrapping up their exit interviews with the coaches and packing up their lockers. And a few of them even made some time for reporters.
Keeping with his 10-week theme since he first injured his collarbone, Romo didn't make himself available to the media. But on this day, probably his last at the complex for a little while, he at least hung around to chat for a little bit.
While he talked about a few things, the word "leadership" seemed to come up a few times. At this point, the Cowboys' quarterback pretty much scoffs at the notion that he's not a leader. And he even questions the people who suggest the sort, wondering how they would ever know what he does behind closed doors or in closed practices.
While we'll get to his leadership, I did think it was interesting that he groups this most recent line of criticism into a ring of many others that he's faced along the way.
"You're always going to be questioned about something," Romo said. "Let me fumble the ball five times in a row and I'll be called a fumbler. If it's not one thing, it's another. I've gone through 20 different things. But the reality is, you have to win."
At the end of every answer Romo gave on this Monday morning, it pretty much ended with winning.
At least Romo understands that the root of every line of criticism stems from his lack of success. And not just a few games here and there, and a division title or two, or even three Pro Bowls. Romo knows why he gets a few random shots from media and fans, and he understands the latest gripe is about his leadership, or lack thereof.
So how does he fix it?
"I just think you win," Romo said. "You have to win. You're a very good leader when you start to win. That's what we're going to do. You have to win the big game. That's where all your credibility comes from. You have to win the Super Bowl. Until then, you can only be so good."
But don't confuse those words as complaining. Romo followed that up by saying he wouldn't want the standards to be any lower.
"That's the way it should be. That's the way I think of great players," Romo said of winning championships. "That's what you want. Otherwise, you're just out there playing a sport."
So back to leadership.
Again, that's one of those things that is always hard to prove. Just like a team having chemistry or guys being disciplined. It's also easy to say and use as a reason when things go wrong.
The beef with Romo has been that he's not the intense in-your-face guy that will jump all over a receiver for dropping a pass or running a bad route, or his linemen for missing a block. But to Romo, he views most of that as just for show.
"I think if you talk to any coach or any player, you have to be yourself," Romo said. "To me, waving your arms so the camera sees you, doesn't do anything for anyone. Yeah, it's easy to do that and I might get credit from the media for yelling at a guy … but I think I'm smart enough to understand when the fakeness is involved.
"So going over and standing there and pointing a finger at someone's face when the camera is on you, that stuff seems like you're just doing it for perception. You don't do that. To win football games, the way to do it is to tell him and get on him at the right times. I do it when you guys don't see it and watch."
Romo has always claimed to be harder on his offensive players in practice than he is on the sidelines. Again, those are things that people like me, and fans like you, can't really dispute because we're not there.
As for Romo, that's another knock on him - just being around. He's really not a locker-room guy. He doesn't hang with the guys that we see. He doesn't sit in there and play cards or dominoes.
To be blunt, Romo isn't really one of the guys anymore. And that's a shame because when he first got here back in 2003 and he was just a bottom-of-the-roster player, that's all he was. Just a guy.
Now, he's not that way anymore. Maybe it's because he'll be