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Former NFL QBs: Tony Romo 'doesn’t have the body language,' needs to be more demanding of teammates
By JON MACHOTA
Special Contributor
Published 31 August 2011 01:09 PM
Why hasn’t Tony Romo had more success in the postseason? That was one of the topics of a Wednesday story on USAToday.com.
A pair of former NFL quarterbacks were interviewed for the national story and both had comments regarding what the Cowboys starting QB needs to change about his game. Interestingly, neither recommendation had anything to do with Romo’s conditioning, mechanics or on the field decision-making.
"The one constructive criticism I would give Tony is that he has to be more demanding of his teammates,” said CBS analyst Rich Gannon, a Super Bowl champion and league MVP in 2002.
Former Cowboys signal-caller Babe Laufenberg said that Romo “doesn’t have the body language.”
“He is not Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach,” added the former Cowboys backup. “There are many things he does that, quite honestly, if I were his agent, I would say, 'Tony, put your hat on straight.' People mistake that for being non-competitive.”
Some have criticized that Romo isn’t close with his teammates, a claim that he had a response for.
Because of his other team responsibilities, Romo said, “At lunchtime, I can't necessarily play dominoes (with teammates).”
Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett was one player that indirectly criticized Romo during the off-season. Bennett suggested that backup quarterback Jon Kitna had earned the right to challenge Romo for the starting job.
But Romo showed some leadership when he dealt with the comments from Bennett. He pulled the tight end aside and explained how comments of that nature can hurt the team.
"Things of that nature are not in the best interests of the Dallas Cowboys. So I talked to him and told him so," Romo said.
As Romo said in a recent interview on Yahoo.com, he feels that he’s in the second phase of his career. That line of thinking was mentioned in the Wednesday article, only Romo went into greater depth.
“I relate it to high school,” he said. “As a junior or a senior, you have (better) command. Now you tell (teammates), 'Hey, I need you to do this.' I am a senior now.”
By JON MACHOTA
Special Contributor
Published 31 August 2011 01:09 PM
Why hasn’t Tony Romo had more success in the postseason? That was one of the topics of a Wednesday story on USAToday.com.
A pair of former NFL quarterbacks were interviewed for the national story and both had comments regarding what the Cowboys starting QB needs to change about his game. Interestingly, neither recommendation had anything to do with Romo’s conditioning, mechanics or on the field decision-making.
"The one constructive criticism I would give Tony is that he has to be more demanding of his teammates,” said CBS analyst Rich Gannon, a Super Bowl champion and league MVP in 2002.
Former Cowboys signal-caller Babe Laufenberg said that Romo “doesn’t have the body language.”
“He is not Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach,” added the former Cowboys backup. “There are many things he does that, quite honestly, if I were his agent, I would say, 'Tony, put your hat on straight.' People mistake that for being non-competitive.”
Some have criticized that Romo isn’t close with his teammates, a claim that he had a response for.
Because of his other team responsibilities, Romo said, “At lunchtime, I can't necessarily play dominoes (with teammates).”
Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett was one player that indirectly criticized Romo during the off-season. Bennett suggested that backup quarterback Jon Kitna had earned the right to challenge Romo for the starting job.
But Romo showed some leadership when he dealt with the comments from Bennett. He pulled the tight end aside and explained how comments of that nature can hurt the team.
"Things of that nature are not in the best interests of the Dallas Cowboys. So I talked to him and told him so," Romo said.
As Romo said in a recent interview on Yahoo.com, he feels that he’s in the second phase of his career. That line of thinking was mentioned in the Wednesday article, only Romo went into greater depth.
“I relate it to high school,” he said. “As a junior or a senior, you have (better) command. Now you tell (teammates), 'Hey, I need you to do this.' I am a senior now.”