Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman talked with the Musers on KTCK-AM Thursday. Here are a few highlights:
Link
On Tony Romo’s performance against the Jets:
I know a lot of people who watched the game, and even Tony himself, felt really good about the way he’d played. And then he just made a couple of mistakes. That happens. I think when it happens for a quarterback, you just move on and get ready for the next game. I think the reaction by everybody, considering it was just the first game of the season, I don’t want to say was surprising, but there’s always an overreaction – both good and bad – around the league. As a quarterback, you kind of learn to deal with that.
On the pressure Romo faces by playing in the shadow of Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach:
I was removed a few quarterbacks [from Staubach], so that really helped. When I came to the team, the team had been bad for a period of time, it hadn’t been to a playoff game in 12 years or more. And so when we began to win, the fans were really excited. And when we began to win, we won Super Bowls right away. That made things a heck of a lot easier for me and a lot of other players. Whereas for Tony, the team had been struggling since we won our Super Bowls, since ’96 essentially. The team had been struggling for a while, and then Tony took over as the quarterback…And then immediately, the expectations got elevated because of his play at quarterback.
Here’s the problem I have with the way people react to Tony: Tony’s the reason why the expectations are what they are. And if it weren’t for him, there would be no expectations. Yet when he plays great through three and a half quarters, the reason they’re in the game or leading the game is because Tony’s playing really great. And then you have a bad play that hurts your team, and they act like he’s the reason they lost. They don’t remember, “No, he’s the reason we were beating the team that we really had no expectations of beating.” But that’s life as a quarterback in the NFL.
Link
On Tony Romo’s performance against the Jets:
I know a lot of people who watched the game, and even Tony himself, felt really good about the way he’d played. And then he just made a couple of mistakes. That happens. I think when it happens for a quarterback, you just move on and get ready for the next game. I think the reaction by everybody, considering it was just the first game of the season, I don’t want to say was surprising, but there’s always an overreaction – both good and bad – around the league. As a quarterback, you kind of learn to deal with that.
On the pressure Romo faces by playing in the shadow of Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach:
I was removed a few quarterbacks [from Staubach], so that really helped. When I came to the team, the team had been bad for a period of time, it hadn’t been to a playoff game in 12 years or more. And so when we began to win, the fans were really excited. And when we began to win, we won Super Bowls right away. That made things a heck of a lot easier for me and a lot of other players. Whereas for Tony, the team had been struggling since we won our Super Bowls, since ’96 essentially. The team had been struggling for a while, and then Tony took over as the quarterback…And then immediately, the expectations got elevated because of his play at quarterback.
Here’s the problem I have with the way people react to Tony: Tony’s the reason why the expectations are what they are. And if it weren’t for him, there would be no expectations. Yet when he plays great through three and a half quarters, the reason they’re in the game or leading the game is because Tony’s playing really great. And then you have a bad play that hurts your team, and they act like he’s the reason they lost. They don’t remember, “No, he’s the reason we were beating the team that we really had no expectations of beating.” But that’s life as a quarterback in the NFL.
