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Romo still defined by his shortcomings
Posted Tuesday, Sep. 13, 2011
By Gil LeBreton
glebreton@ star-telegram.com
It's the backwards ballcap. It's the playoff weekend off in Cabo.
It's that stupid, dimpled smile that he wears when he's jogging off the field after his latest interception.
How do they hate thee, Tony Romo? This week let us count the ways.
It's having the nerve to go out with Jessica Simpson. It's having the nerve to break up with Jessica Simpson.
It's finding a beauty queen to get engaged to while on the rebound. And then making a wedding video that's more slickly done than the tape of your last playoff game.
You love Tony Romo; you love him not. You love Romo; you love him not. You love him; you love him not.
This week, after giving away what could have been a season-igniting victory Sunday over the Jets, you hate him.
It's all the golf. It's the U.S. Open qualifying that he never makes, thank God. It's all the celebrity golf tournaments that he seems to play in. It's the fact that "Celebrity" Romo seemingly will end up playing in more golf tournaments this year than Tiger Woods.
Once upon a time, Dallas Cowboys fans always knew where to find their starting quarterback. Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman -- they were in the film room, studying the next week's opponent.
Romo? He's on the 18th at Pebble Beach, cracking jokes with Michael Bolton. I guess Yanni was busy.
So I'm sitting in the press box before Sunday night's season opener, and a friend whose football expertise I really, really respect is trying to quell my lingering concerns about the quarterback of the Cowboys.
My friend starts listing Romo's numbers -- the 4,483 yards he passed for one year, the 36 touchdown passes he had the year before.
For Romo, it's become a trite argument. After six years of being a starting quarterback, Tony Romo is defined by his numbers, not his playoff victories.
In 2007, after only seven games in his first full season as starting quarterback, Romo was handed a six-year, $67.5 million contract by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who in the process proclaimed that the franchise's long, dark quest for Aikman's successor was over.
This, however, is what Owner Jones does, doesn't he? He pays with his heart, not always with his head.
Something about Marion Barber made Jones give him a seven-year, $45 million contract. Jones thought Roy Williams was a game-changing wide receiver, too. And Jones thought Terrell Owens could be tamed and lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl. All that ended up doing is leading Bill Parcells to the door.
You love Romo; you love him not. You love him; you love him not.
An NFL scout was asked for his candid scouting report on Romo.
"Tony has a lot of talent," the scout began. "He has the mobility. He has the ability, particularly when he sets his feet, to make all the throws on the passing tree.
"Tony's biggest issue, though, is his inability to protect the football and to make good decisions under pressure. You've got to have clarity back there and to know when it's better to take a sack or throw the ball away."
The NFL scout talks about the 6-to-1 ratio that quarterbacks need to be mindful of.
"For every turnover that the quarterback makes," he says, "it takes six explosive plays -- either a run of 10-or-more yards or a pass play of 20 yards or more -- to make up for that mistake."
Following Sunday night's loss to the Jets, in which Romo threw for 342 yards but had two game-turning miscues, Owner Jones addressed the quarterback's legion of doubters.
"They had doubts about Staubach and doubts about Aikman, until they won the Super Bowl," Jones said.
But Jones couldn't be more wrong. Staubach took over during the 1971 season and the Cowboys promptly won the Super Bowl. Two years later, he became the starter for keeps, and the Cowboys went to the NFC title game. And two years after that, Staubach took the team to the Super Bowl again.
In Aikman's third year, he carried the Cowboys into the second round of the playoffs. He then won three of the next four Super Bowls.
Doubts? Cowboys fans didn't have time to doubt to Staubach and Aikman.
Romo is another story.
This is his sixth season as the Cowboys' No. 1 quarterback. He is 1-3 in NFL postseason games.
At Division I-AA Eastern Illinois, Romo's team made the NCAA playoffs but lost three years in a row in the first round.
Romo started for two seasons in high school in Burlington, Wis., but his team never made the playoffs.
Romo, therefore, has won exactly one playoff game since becoming a starting quarterback in 11th grade.
It's that, not the passing yardage, that defines Tony Romo.
As Sunday reminded us
Posted Tuesday, Sep. 13, 2011
By Gil LeBreton
glebreton@ star-telegram.com
It's the backwards ballcap. It's the playoff weekend off in Cabo.
It's that stupid, dimpled smile that he wears when he's jogging off the field after his latest interception.
How do they hate thee, Tony Romo? This week let us count the ways.
It's having the nerve to go out with Jessica Simpson. It's having the nerve to break up with Jessica Simpson.
It's finding a beauty queen to get engaged to while on the rebound. And then making a wedding video that's more slickly done than the tape of your last playoff game.
You love Tony Romo; you love him not. You love Romo; you love him not. You love him; you love him not.
This week, after giving away what could have been a season-igniting victory Sunday over the Jets, you hate him.
It's all the golf. It's the U.S. Open qualifying that he never makes, thank God. It's all the celebrity golf tournaments that he seems to play in. It's the fact that "Celebrity" Romo seemingly will end up playing in more golf tournaments this year than Tiger Woods.
Once upon a time, Dallas Cowboys fans always knew where to find their starting quarterback. Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman -- they were in the film room, studying the next week's opponent.
Romo? He's on the 18th at Pebble Beach, cracking jokes with Michael Bolton. I guess Yanni was busy.
So I'm sitting in the press box before Sunday night's season opener, and a friend whose football expertise I really, really respect is trying to quell my lingering concerns about the quarterback of the Cowboys.
My friend starts listing Romo's numbers -- the 4,483 yards he passed for one year, the 36 touchdown passes he had the year before.
For Romo, it's become a trite argument. After six years of being a starting quarterback, Tony Romo is defined by his numbers, not his playoff victories.
In 2007, after only seven games in his first full season as starting quarterback, Romo was handed a six-year, $67.5 million contract by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who in the process proclaimed that the franchise's long, dark quest for Aikman's successor was over.
This, however, is what Owner Jones does, doesn't he? He pays with his heart, not always with his head.
Something about Marion Barber made Jones give him a seven-year, $45 million contract. Jones thought Roy Williams was a game-changing wide receiver, too. And Jones thought Terrell Owens could be tamed and lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl. All that ended up doing is leading Bill Parcells to the door.
You love Romo; you love him not. You love him; you love him not.
An NFL scout was asked for his candid scouting report on Romo.
"Tony has a lot of talent," the scout began. "He has the mobility. He has the ability, particularly when he sets his feet, to make all the throws on the passing tree.
"Tony's biggest issue, though, is his inability to protect the football and to make good decisions under pressure. You've got to have clarity back there and to know when it's better to take a sack or throw the ball away."
The NFL scout talks about the 6-to-1 ratio that quarterbacks need to be mindful of.
"For every turnover that the quarterback makes," he says, "it takes six explosive plays -- either a run of 10-or-more yards or a pass play of 20 yards or more -- to make up for that mistake."
Following Sunday night's loss to the Jets, in which Romo threw for 342 yards but had two game-turning miscues, Owner Jones addressed the quarterback's legion of doubters.
"They had doubts about Staubach and doubts about Aikman, until they won the Super Bowl," Jones said.
But Jones couldn't be more wrong. Staubach took over during the 1971 season and the Cowboys promptly won the Super Bowl. Two years later, he became the starter for keeps, and the Cowboys went to the NFC title game. And two years after that, Staubach took the team to the Super Bowl again.
In Aikman's third year, he carried the Cowboys into the second round of the playoffs. He then won three of the next four Super Bowls.
Doubts? Cowboys fans didn't have time to doubt to Staubach and Aikman.
Romo is another story.
This is his sixth season as the Cowboys' No. 1 quarterback. He is 1-3 in NFL postseason games.
At Division I-AA Eastern Illinois, Romo's team made the NCAA playoffs but lost three years in a row in the first round.
Romo started for two seasons in high school in Burlington, Wis., but his team never made the playoffs.
Romo, therefore, has won exactly one playoff game since becoming a starting quarterback in 11th grade.
It's that, not the passing yardage, that defines Tony Romo.
As Sunday reminded us
