“I think maybe things happened so quickly for Tony in terms of obscurity to all of a sudden national spotlight that he hasn’t fully grasped what being the Cowboys quarterback is all about,” Troy Aikman said. “And you don’t go to Cabo the week before a playoff game. You just don’t do it.”
Troy Aikman was on Michael Irvin’s talk show when he shared his thoughts about Tony Romo and I must say that I agree with him. Tony Romo was widely viewed as the Savior of The Dallas Cowboys-as local sports guru Randy Galloway likes to say, It’s All About The Quarterback. Tony Romo is all about the celebrity of being the quarterback of The Dallas Cowboys-not so much about winning playoff games. Tony Romo seems to think he is being paid millions of dollars a year to have fun.
“I’ve had a lot worse things happen to me than a loss in a sporting event, that’s for sure. If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me, then I’ll have lived a pretty good life.” Tony Romo after the lose to the Eagles that ended the Dallas Cowboys season. He delivered this little life lesson in monotones and added a lot of shrugging. As a Dallas Cowboys fan you can say, well, there’s always next year. As the Quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, saying it’s just a game doesn’t cut it.
Gary Hogeboom was a hotshot quarterback that walked into a game and broke half of Danny White’s team records. Was Gary Hogeboom a better quarterback than Danny White? Not exactly. There is no question that Troy Aikman was a better quarterback than Tony Romo, no matter how many records Tony Romo sets. It might be a good idea if Tony listens when Troy talks.
Of course, we still have to hang our hopes on Tony Romo. He is the only quarterback since Troy Aikman who has even shown a sign of being able to play the position in Dallas. There should be no surprise that Tony Romo is a prima donna, after all, one of his buddies is Terrell Owens, king of the drama queens.
It also helps to remember that the first real influence on Tony Romo was Vinnie Testaverde, a quarterback who was never quite as great as he could have been. Vinnie could win every prize at a state fair for tossing a football through a spare tire-given the time he was amazingly accurate. Of course, he seldom had that kind of time in a real game. So Vinnie was Tony’s first mentor and role model. How many Superbowls did Vinnie win? None. How many Superbowls did Vinnie play in? None.
So far Tony Romo is following in Vinnie Testaverde’s footsteps. Of course, Vinnie did make it to the Conference Championship a couple of times. Tony Romo needs to win a regular playoff game before he heads to a Conference Championship. Maybe Tony does need to practice more and hang out in Cabo less. Or maybe he just wants to be the next Vinnie Testaverde.
