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Galloway - 'New' Tony Romo gives Cowboys a betting chance
'New' Tony Romo gives Cowboys a betting chance
Posted Thursday, Aug. 04, 2011
BY RANDY GALLOWAY
rgalloway@star-telegram.com
SAN ANTONIO -- This is not about my admitted Romosexuality.
This is also not about knocking sense into that loud vocal minority of Cowsheep who have the not-now-not-ever attitude on Tony Romo when it comes to a quarterback who can return the Cowboys to what once was considered the franchise's personal promised land.
I don't know if the Cowboys will ever again win a Super Bowl.
But here in early August, we all know they've got a much better shot at it for 2011 than a Seattle, a Carolina, a Washington, a Minnesota, maybe a Detroit and maybe a Chicago.
Over a third of the entire NFC is already eliminated because of quarterback issues.
But by current Vegas odds on the Super Bowl, the Cowboys are 16-1 which puts them in the top 10 hunt in the entire NFL.
Coming off 6-10, there's only one reason for that kind of lukewarm wagering optimism. And no, it's obviously not a defense that gave up the most points in franchise history last season. And no, it's not about a running game on offense that is still seeking an upgrade from feeble status.
The Cowboys have a good quarterback.
A good quarterback gives anybody the chance to make a playoff impact, which doesn't mean winning a Super Bowl, because I'm officially finished with ever again mentioning the Cowboys in the same sentence with winning a Super Bowl.
Past failures are well-documented, but that's not always Romo's fault, even if he receives most of the blame when things continually go wrong.
In this training camp, much has been made of the "new" Romo. I'm not even sure about that, and Romo himself gave a smile and a shrug on Thursday when I asked him, "What is a new Romo?"
Certainly, it's a well-rested Romo down here after he was gone for the 2010 season in October, sidelined with a broken collarbone.
And it's a Romo supposedly now heavily invested in a team leadership role after his much-praised practice-field organizational skills when the league was shut down for the lockout.
Supposedly, Romo is a better teammate now from observing how veteran backup Jon Kitna worked the locker room, the sideline and the huddle when Kitna took over last season.
But what does Romo think?
"I kind of look at this as Phase 2 of my career, particularly after last season was kind of personally lost because of the injury," he said. "Each year in the league, you should grow as a player, and I've attempted to do that.
"But coming off last season, I'm personally pleased with where I am right now in preparing for this season and preparing for this Phase 2."
It's a fact that, with Valley Ranch shut down for off-season workouts, Romo, by all accounts, became the Cowboys' general manager and head coach. Certainly some teammates helped in the process, but it was Romo who gathered the players for private workouts and then served as the guy in charge on the practice field.
"Look, we had to have it," he said. "Our team was very humbled last season, and no one wanted to let an off-season go by without us putting the work into being better.
"And if you are going to do it, you have to do it right, and you have to do it for a full month, not make it a weekend thing. There was no media around; there were no coaches to impress.
"We had almost the entire team there for those practices, and every player made the personal commitment to work the right way."
Criticized, fairly or not, at times for being too aloof, too subdued and too selective with a very small circle of teammates/friends, there are those who now say that over the spring and summer he's become a true "team" leader.
Is this the "new" Romo?
"I hope so," said Romo, smiling.
But at times there was absolutely nothing wrong with the "other" Romo. One of those times was the '07 season. Another was the '09 season.
No doubt, he was a quarterback good enough to get a team at least close to the Super Bowl. It didn't happen, and if you blame Romo, that'd be wrong, but it's never stopped the Romo haters before.
Plus, there have been other seasons when Romo was not good, fueling the critics.
A playoff win in '09 removed one elephant from his room. Mike Vick, by the way, is the "star" QB of the now almighty Eagles, and he has only two career playoff wins. Aaron Rodgers, with a shorter stint as a starter than Romo and Vick, had no playoff wins until last season. Now he has four and a ring.
At the moment in this training camp, it'd be a ridiculous stretch to say the Cowboys have the necessary pieces to compete for a Super Bowl berth. But the quarterback is certainly capable.
Remote or not, that means there's at least a chance to shock us all. Many teams in the NFL don't have the quarterback, and don't have a prayer.
Randy Galloway can be heard 3-6 p.m. weekdays on Galloway & Co. on ESPN/103.3 FM.
'New' Tony Romo gives Cowboys a betting chance
Posted Thursday, Aug. 04, 2011
BY RANDY GALLOWAY
rgalloway@star-telegram.com
SAN ANTONIO -- This is not about my admitted Romosexuality.
This is also not about knocking sense into that loud vocal minority of Cowsheep who have the not-now-not-ever attitude on Tony Romo when it comes to a quarterback who can return the Cowboys to what once was considered the franchise's personal promised land.
I don't know if the Cowboys will ever again win a Super Bowl.
But here in early August, we all know they've got a much better shot at it for 2011 than a Seattle, a Carolina, a Washington, a Minnesota, maybe a Detroit and maybe a Chicago.
Over a third of the entire NFC is already eliminated because of quarterback issues.
But by current Vegas odds on the Super Bowl, the Cowboys are 16-1 which puts them in the top 10 hunt in the entire NFL.
Coming off 6-10, there's only one reason for that kind of lukewarm wagering optimism. And no, it's obviously not a defense that gave up the most points in franchise history last season. And no, it's not about a running game on offense that is still seeking an upgrade from feeble status.
The Cowboys have a good quarterback.
A good quarterback gives anybody the chance to make a playoff impact, which doesn't mean winning a Super Bowl, because I'm officially finished with ever again mentioning the Cowboys in the same sentence with winning a Super Bowl.
Past failures are well-documented, but that's not always Romo's fault, even if he receives most of the blame when things continually go wrong.
In this training camp, much has been made of the "new" Romo. I'm not even sure about that, and Romo himself gave a smile and a shrug on Thursday when I asked him, "What is a new Romo?"
Certainly, it's a well-rested Romo down here after he was gone for the 2010 season in October, sidelined with a broken collarbone.
And it's a Romo supposedly now heavily invested in a team leadership role after his much-praised practice-field organizational skills when the league was shut down for the lockout.
Supposedly, Romo is a better teammate now from observing how veteran backup Jon Kitna worked the locker room, the sideline and the huddle when Kitna took over last season.
But what does Romo think?
"I kind of look at this as Phase 2 of my career, particularly after last season was kind of personally lost because of the injury," he said. "Each year in the league, you should grow as a player, and I've attempted to do that.
"But coming off last season, I'm personally pleased with where I am right now in preparing for this season and preparing for this Phase 2."
It's a fact that, with Valley Ranch shut down for off-season workouts, Romo, by all accounts, became the Cowboys' general manager and head coach. Certainly some teammates helped in the process, but it was Romo who gathered the players for private workouts and then served as the guy in charge on the practice field.
"Look, we had to have it," he said. "Our team was very humbled last season, and no one wanted to let an off-season go by without us putting the work into being better.
"And if you are going to do it, you have to do it right, and you have to do it for a full month, not make it a weekend thing. There was no media around; there were no coaches to impress.
"We had almost the entire team there for those practices, and every player made the personal commitment to work the right way."
Criticized, fairly or not, at times for being too aloof, too subdued and too selective with a very small circle of teammates/friends, there are those who now say that over the spring and summer he's become a true "team" leader.
Is this the "new" Romo?
"I hope so," said Romo, smiling.
But at times there was absolutely nothing wrong with the "other" Romo. One of those times was the '07 season. Another was the '09 season.
No doubt, he was a quarterback good enough to get a team at least close to the Super Bowl. It didn't happen, and if you blame Romo, that'd be wrong, but it's never stopped the Romo haters before.
Plus, there have been other seasons when Romo was not good, fueling the critics.
A playoff win in '09 removed one elephant from his room. Mike Vick, by the way, is the "star" QB of the now almighty Eagles, and he has only two career playoff wins. Aaron Rodgers, with a shorter stint as a starter than Romo and Vick, had no playoff wins until last season. Now he has four and a ring.
At the moment in this training camp, it'd be a ridiculous stretch to say the Cowboys have the necessary pieces to compete for a Super Bowl berth. But the quarterback is certainly capable.
Remote or not, that means there's at least a chance to shock us all. Many teams in the NFL don't have the quarterback, and don't have a prayer.
Randy Galloway can be heard 3-6 p.m. weekdays on Galloway & Co. on ESPN/103.3 FM.