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Romo struggling to find cusp of greatness
Jen Floyd Engel covered local sports for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram since 1997 and became a columnist in 2003. Sports opinions? She's never short of them. And love her or hate her, she'll be just another one of the boys.
The worst thing to happen to Tony Romo was Tom Brady.
In fairness, the New England Patriots quarterback is the worst thing to happen to most quarterbacks in the league. But Brady's trajectory is particularly troubling for Romo already burdened by singularly Dallas Cowboy concerns of being compared to Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach.
Romo and Brady have just enough commonalties for comparisons, you see — lowly regarded on draft day (Romo undrafted and Brady in the sixth round), boyish good looks and a resume of celebrity chicks that love them, championed by Big Bill (Parcells) and Little Bill (Belichick), surprisingly amazing when thrust into a starting role. In a weird twist, both replaced Drew Bledsoe — Romo doing so five years after Brady had in New England. A quick Google search reveals comparisons between Brady and Romo began not long after, growing with the Cowboys QB's success.
So it stands to reason at least in a few minds, mostly in Cowboys Nation where quarterbacks fall into two categories -- Hall of Famer or abject failure, that Romo is going to take a Brady-like leap any season now. To rings. To immortality. To at very least playoff Ws. To at very, very least victories in games in New York where you lead by two touchdowns going into the fourth quarter.
And so when Romo stumbles and stumbles spectacularly like he did in Sunday's loss to the Jets, well, he gets crucified for "failing.” The dog pile was eclectic and fierce, with Omar Epps tweeting "Dear Fellow Cowboys Fans, We need a new quarterback period. Sincerely, Me." while notorious Miami Heat fourth-quarter choke artist, LeBron James, chimed in with "Are you kidding me!!!" during the Cowboys fourth-quarter failings. Even Regis Philbin piled on during his show with that crazy skinny blond chick, saying "the Dallas Cowboys will never win anything with Tony Romo as quarterback . . . He just does everything wrong."
And then that Tom Brady goes and does what he did Monday, being damn near perfect with his 517 yards and four touchdowns Monday, starting off another round of "When will Romo ever do that? Or is he a failure?" from angry Cowboy fans.
What nobody wants to admit is, maybe, this is what Romo is — a talented and flawed and pretty good quarterback in a league where that is pretty damn good.
I almost guarantee Danny Snyder in Washington would sacrifice two, possibly four employees, if doing so guaranteed Romo was his quarterback. Nor is he alone. All around the league on opening weekend — from Thursday to late, late Monday — we witnessed teams trying to win with all variations of quarterback. The Colts had Kerry Collins, looking like an Obi Wan hologram, trying to win a game. The NY Giants lost to a Rex Grossman-led Redskins team, which is to say nothing of Atlanta being slapped around by a team quarterbacked by a guy who less than six months ago was being called a quitter by what seemed like every NFL player with a Twitter account. Denver lost to Oakland (yes, Raider Nation, led by Redskins quarterback castoff).
Not everybody gets Tom Brady, y'all.
There are not enough Tom Bradys, and not exactly a lot of guys even flirting with that level of play. Most of the league is trying to win with Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger and the Other Manning — talented and flawed, "bus drivers" being asked to be just good enough on teams hoping that on any given Sunday talent overrides flaws, that their defense and running game and special teams are good enough to win.
And therein lies Romo's other problem. He is right on the edge of taking that leap, or more realistically gives the illusion of being at that edge. If Romo was a girl and you were dating him, you would call him a tease. Just when you think you are getting to the good stuff, he stops everything and says "No, I just can't. I'm not ready" in the form of a fumble or an interception so brutal that you cannot even credit Revis Island.
The game in New York was just a very intense version of this tease. He was so good, so tantilizingly good, for three quarters. He ended up passing for 342 yards and two touchdowns. What turned his game into an unmitigated disaster was his fourth-quarter flailings. He fumbled at the goal line as the Cowboys were going in for what surely would have been a game-ending score, and then tossed an interception. There were other problems, the receiver who checked out, the special teams that allowed a punt block, the kicker they gave up on beating them. But the sharpest criticism was saved for Romo.
And I go back to, maybe, this is what he is. What we are talking about is a 31-year-old quarterback who has been to Pro Bowls, starts for America's Team and has achieved a lot, by any standard. He's already a raging success story.
People keep saying Romo has talent to become an elite starter. He already is. Sunday notwithstanding, he is probably a Top 10 quarterback in the league and this should be the sweet spot of his career, the time when his talent and maturity converge to start winning. And the belief is, if he'll only stop making critical mistakes, then the Cowboys will return back to championship form.
This is why comparisons to Brady are never fair. He has been surrounded by a genius coach, good management and talented teams in New England while Romo, post-Bill Parcells, has had Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Cowboy drafts and Coach Cupcake (Wade Phillips). I have faith in coach Jason Garrett. I say this in no way to denigrate what Brady has done. The guy is amazing, and that is the point. It is hard to be him.
If anything, Peyton Manning provides a better comparison point for Romo — in the only way that matters. If you took Romo off this Cowboys team, good Romo or tease Romo, they crumble into an even bigger mess than they have been in recent seasons. Their problem is they need him to go to Brady-esque levels to carry them. His problem is, if he doesn't, he's defined as a failure.
We were talking about this lately, sports columnists friends and myself, about what makes one a failure in sports. It started as a discussion about Andy Roddick, actually. Can you really call him a failure? He has a Grand Slam win, plenty of cash and a gorgeous spouse. We'd all love to fail so spectacularly. What I determined and threw out for debate was, maybe, what Roddick failed was his talent. I bring this up only because nobody can say Romo has failed his talent.
He was an undrafted free agent from Eastern Illinois. And this is, maybe, who he is. And it is pretty damn good, if you do not compare him to Brady or need him to carry your dysfunctional team.
Jen Floyd Engel covered local sports for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram since 1997 and became a columnist in 2003. Sports opinions? She's never short of them. And love her or hate her, she'll be just another one of the boys.
The worst thing to happen to Tony Romo was Tom Brady.
In fairness, the New England Patriots quarterback is the worst thing to happen to most quarterbacks in the league. But Brady's trajectory is particularly troubling for Romo already burdened by singularly Dallas Cowboy concerns of being compared to Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach.
Romo and Brady have just enough commonalties for comparisons, you see — lowly regarded on draft day (Romo undrafted and Brady in the sixth round), boyish good looks and a resume of celebrity chicks that love them, championed by Big Bill (Parcells) and Little Bill (Belichick), surprisingly amazing when thrust into a starting role. In a weird twist, both replaced Drew Bledsoe — Romo doing so five years after Brady had in New England. A quick Google search reveals comparisons between Brady and Romo began not long after, growing with the Cowboys QB's success.
So it stands to reason at least in a few minds, mostly in Cowboys Nation where quarterbacks fall into two categories -- Hall of Famer or abject failure, that Romo is going to take a Brady-like leap any season now. To rings. To immortality. To at very least playoff Ws. To at very, very least victories in games in New York where you lead by two touchdowns going into the fourth quarter.
And so when Romo stumbles and stumbles spectacularly like he did in Sunday's loss to the Jets, well, he gets crucified for "failing.” The dog pile was eclectic and fierce, with Omar Epps tweeting "Dear Fellow Cowboys Fans, We need a new quarterback period. Sincerely, Me." while notorious Miami Heat fourth-quarter choke artist, LeBron James, chimed in with "Are you kidding me!!!" during the Cowboys fourth-quarter failings. Even Regis Philbin piled on during his show with that crazy skinny blond chick, saying "the Dallas Cowboys will never win anything with Tony Romo as quarterback . . . He just does everything wrong."
And then that Tom Brady goes and does what he did Monday, being damn near perfect with his 517 yards and four touchdowns Monday, starting off another round of "When will Romo ever do that? Or is he a failure?" from angry Cowboy fans.
What nobody wants to admit is, maybe, this is what Romo is — a talented and flawed and pretty good quarterback in a league where that is pretty damn good.
I almost guarantee Danny Snyder in Washington would sacrifice two, possibly four employees, if doing so guaranteed Romo was his quarterback. Nor is he alone. All around the league on opening weekend — from Thursday to late, late Monday — we witnessed teams trying to win with all variations of quarterback. The Colts had Kerry Collins, looking like an Obi Wan hologram, trying to win a game. The NY Giants lost to a Rex Grossman-led Redskins team, which is to say nothing of Atlanta being slapped around by a team quarterbacked by a guy who less than six months ago was being called a quitter by what seemed like every NFL player with a Twitter account. Denver lost to Oakland (yes, Raider Nation, led by Redskins quarterback castoff).
Not everybody gets Tom Brady, y'all.
There are not enough Tom Bradys, and not exactly a lot of guys even flirting with that level of play. Most of the league is trying to win with Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger and the Other Manning — talented and flawed, "bus drivers" being asked to be just good enough on teams hoping that on any given Sunday talent overrides flaws, that their defense and running game and special teams are good enough to win.
And therein lies Romo's other problem. He is right on the edge of taking that leap, or more realistically gives the illusion of being at that edge. If Romo was a girl and you were dating him, you would call him a tease. Just when you think you are getting to the good stuff, he stops everything and says "No, I just can't. I'm not ready" in the form of a fumble or an interception so brutal that you cannot even credit Revis Island.
The game in New York was just a very intense version of this tease. He was so good, so tantilizingly good, for three quarters. He ended up passing for 342 yards and two touchdowns. What turned his game into an unmitigated disaster was his fourth-quarter flailings. He fumbled at the goal line as the Cowboys were going in for what surely would have been a game-ending score, and then tossed an interception. There were other problems, the receiver who checked out, the special teams that allowed a punt block, the kicker they gave up on beating them. But the sharpest criticism was saved for Romo.
And I go back to, maybe, this is what he is. What we are talking about is a 31-year-old quarterback who has been to Pro Bowls, starts for America's Team and has achieved a lot, by any standard. He's already a raging success story.
People keep saying Romo has talent to become an elite starter. He already is. Sunday notwithstanding, he is probably a Top 10 quarterback in the league and this should be the sweet spot of his career, the time when his talent and maturity converge to start winning. And the belief is, if he'll only stop making critical mistakes, then the Cowboys will return back to championship form.
This is why comparisons to Brady are never fair. He has been surrounded by a genius coach, good management and talented teams in New England while Romo, post-Bill Parcells, has had Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Cowboy drafts and Coach Cupcake (Wade Phillips). I have faith in coach Jason Garrett. I say this in no way to denigrate what Brady has done. The guy is amazing, and that is the point. It is hard to be him.
If anything, Peyton Manning provides a better comparison point for Romo — in the only way that matters. If you took Romo off this Cowboys team, good Romo or tease Romo, they crumble into an even bigger mess than they have been in recent seasons. Their problem is they need him to go to Brady-esque levels to carry them. His problem is, if he doesn't, he's defined as a failure.
We were talking about this lately, sports columnists friends and myself, about what makes one a failure in sports. It started as a discussion about Andy Roddick, actually. Can you really call him a failure? He has a Grand Slam win, plenty of cash and a gorgeous spouse. We'd all love to fail so spectacularly. What I determined and threw out for debate was, maybe, what Roddick failed was his talent. I bring this up only because nobody can say Romo has failed his talent.
He was an undrafted free agent from Eastern Illinois. And this is, maybe, who he is. And it is pretty damn good, if you do not compare him to Brady or need him to carry your dysfunctional team.
