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2016-2017 Offseason:
Romo Leaving NFL For CBS
- April 4th, 2017 At 7:41 PM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
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- Tony Romo – 13-year NFL star and
former starting quarterback of “America’s Team” – has decided pro
football he will quit, preceding the Dallas Cowboys’ decision
to trigger the contractual split.
Before going further, “The Tortured Cowboys Fan” offers a prior
write-up that postulated how this might build-up:
"Head-On
Collision With A Career Decision." Otherwise, The Tortured
Cowboys Fan encourages you to continue with this historical menu.
The well-chronicled start to Romo’s end began with a preseason back
injury against the Seattle Seahawks in 2016, preceded by a
season-ending foot injury to then-backup QB Kellen Moore that left
the Cowboys’ key on-field leadership position incredibly lean.
Then-rookie fourth round draft pick, Dak Prescott, was elevated in
an instant from third string to the starting spot.
Dallas tried in vain to procure another capable veteran to help
Prescott settle in. The Cowboys would sign journeyman Mark Sanchez, testing fate, making (some) fans irate, and bordering on
outright sin. Following Romo’s brief-but-successful game 16
appearance (undoubtedly performing a one-sided, seed-planting trade
bait dance), the Cowboys left a Romo-produced lead to Sanchez, who
would go onto foil it, flushing an almost certain franchise
record 14th regular season victory – even with the second string
reasonably doing their thing – right down the garbage time toilet.
But then Sanchez – much like Kellen Moore – ultimately (and somewhat
unbelievably) proved his value for Prescott as a junior QB coach or
sideline mentor.
Tony Romo would never reach the field again, as he returned to his
still-warm, season-long spot in the Cowboys’ QB bullpen.
The Dallas Cowboys, their fans, and prognosticators everywhere were
ultimately treated by Dak to a quite unexpected and certainly
unbelievable season-long, playoff-worthy 13-3 performance. Far from
an understatement, everyone (from passionate sports debaters to
absolute myopic haters) remembers how the promise of the 2014
Cowboys crumbled in 2015 like Tony Romo’s collar bone. Brandon
Weeden, Matt Cassel, and Kellen Moore collectively (to varying
degrees) caused Cowboys Nation to moan and groan, as they
failed to deliver loss column abatement. While the Prescott-led
Cowboys came up short – in a home playoff contest against the Green
Bay Packers – Dak’s future looked (and looks) quite promising in the
most popular American sport.
After an unconfirmed number of trade attempts to send Romo to one of
at least two other playoff-ready teams (in the Denver Broncos and
the Houston Texans) with which he preferred to end his career if
forced, the Cowboys made the painful-but-necessary decision
with Tony to get divorced.
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- Everyone – from prognosticators to Cowboys Nation – knew the
(quality) quarterback-needy Broncos and Texans were more apt to
patiently wait until Romo was granted a permanent vacation before
making any attempt to formulate a transaction. While the Texans
allegedly might have been willing to sacrifice a late-round pick,
trading for a very capable yet increasingly infirm 37-year-old
quarterback was something the Broncos publicly dismissed, no
matter how much they might have been intrigued by another Peyton
Manning-like tryst.
John Elway has as much of an ego as any
former-star-player-turned-front-office-executive in the NFL and – for as
limited as Trevor Siemian seemed and as (naturally) inexperienced as
Paxton Lynch looked last year – Elway remains not averse to standing
firm and seeing if either of his currently underwhelming options at
QB could improve and consistently do well. A piece of Elway’s draft
day reputation – however compartmentalized or small – arguably
hinges on Lynch eventually succeeding and standing all 6’ 7” tall.
Though – speaking of height – Elway’s participation in drafting the
equally monstrous (but far less mobile and potentially less capable) Brock Osweiler just might fill some Denver fans with Broncos brain trust fright.
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- The Houston Texans – according to practically every source – were
determined to draft ‘a’ quarterback of the future regardless of
their pursuit of Romo, as an alternative needed to be in place
(in the event of another Texans QB mental or physical tragedy) to
avoid complete and total buyer’s remorse.
At the end of the day (regardless of the potential direction in
which would-be Romo trade partners would sway), Dak Prescott’s
consistent top-shelf play (on top of his uncommon year-one maturity)
– more so than Romo’s most recent injury or his increasing fragility
– made the Cowboys’ decision relatively easy.
While Romo was at the top of the
list of QBs who could save their team's fat from the last-minute
fire – in games over the past decade – he would ditch a chance to
parlay his fresh release (to help another imperfect team reach the
big dance) in favor of becoming a different kind of new hire,
while letting his on-field career fade.
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- Tony Romo – once the dust settled – had a different televised
football opportunity into which he was invited to steer, which
should be a good distraction from sitting around wondering who
meddled (with a possible chance to extend his playing career). After
all – and as close as Romo and Jerry Jones had become (to regularly
beating each other’s righteous drum) – Tony is only human and had to
be mildly curious to learn if Jerry was still being a man of his
word (in promising to release Romo to fly free as a bird) . . . or
if Jerry really had the gall (to refuse all but the very best trade
offers, thus, delaying or ruining Tony’s chances of ever receiving
another team’s call).
Did Tony – in early March of this year – bid Cowboys Nation too soon
a fond farewell, intimating his imminent freedom to offer his
quarterbacking services to other organizations around the NFL?
Did Tony’s innocent Instagram broadcast undercut Jerry’s trade value
desire and start a little delayed action fire? Depending upon
whom you ask, Jerry was (and remains) the tip of the spear who said
he would “do right by Tony,” so maybe in hindsight Jerry (the
phony?) might
be taken to task.
Perhaps it is as Bill “The Big Tuna” Parcells is always fond of
saying: “It is what it is,” as the delay to Tony’s “promised”
release gave him the right amount of time to reflect upon the career
decision that was ultimately his.
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- Romo preempted the Cowboys’ decision to part ways with their former
starting QB with the announcement of his new gig as lead NFL
color analyst for CBS Sports on TV. (Strong) Rumor has it CBS
settled on Romo (to replace a now-bewildered, former lead Phil Simms) after
Peyton Manning repeatedly refused their most aggressive
money-offering whims.
While the acronym will change (from NFL to CBS), Romo sounds ready
and determined to show his performance range, and whether or
not he truly has a flair for being part of a two-player team on-air
will be anyone’s guess.
Danny White Disorder
As to how fans will choose to remember, Romo’s game day
legacy will either be as an overachieving, undrafted free agent or a
prematurely burnt / underachieving ember.
The Tortured Cowboys Fan (who – mind you – simply CANNOT STAND the
schism of "Whataboutism") thinks Romo suffered from history-heaped
and fan-forced “Danny White Disorder.” Danny – for those too young
to remember – accomplished quite a Pro Bowl bit (while navigating a
shallower injury pit), but he came up short when it was his
(otherwise healthy) turn to personally push Dallas over the Super
Bowl border.
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- Danny was a member of
the Cowboys team that beat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII.
Danny was a member of the Cowboys team that lost to the
Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII (because of an end zone catch
someone failed to make clean). The fella'
playing quarterback in those games, however, was the
expectation-setting 12, not the shadow-fighting 11 (whom a healthy
and available Roger Staubach would always shelve). While White did get in a few
passes in XII, his one-sided job as a two-way player was to punt, not
(yet) lead the offensive hunt.
White was 5-5 while leading in playoff contests but – when it came time to push
the Cowboys over three consecutive conference championship humps –
his late game hand-eye coordination would seemingly take a dump with
untimely skill-betraying protests. White was haunted by an untimely
one-second delay, between his truly brilliant offensive mind and his
body’s execution of the drawn-up play. While it was not Danny who slipped on an impossible
defensive banana chasing down Dwight Clark and Joe Montana,
White's comeback-killing fumble – following a sack on the next
offensive series – just encouraged irate fan flurries.
It did not matter that Romo was a smaller college, undrafted free
agent who blossomed into a Pro Bowl performer who grew quite (and
sometimes unpredictably) cogent. It did not matter that a
comparative series of quarterback charlatans (Quincy Carter, Anthony
Wright, Ryan Leaf, Clint Stoerner, and Chad Hutchinson), a sturdy
journeyman (Vinny Testaverde) who played the temporary fill-in, a
celebrated two-sport college star (Drew Henson) who did not get far
with a pro translation that was pure stagnation, and a former Patriot-turned-Buffalo Bill
(Drew Bledsoe) that was both a purposely poor listener and nearly
over the hill . . . all followed three-time Super Bowl Champion and Hall
of Famer, Troy Aikman, before Romo was even given a chance to be the
Cowboys’ offensive lion tamer.
The standards of success established
long ago by two-time Super Bowl Champion and Hall of Famer, Roger Staubach,
irreversibly spoiled Cowboys Nation and forcibly required Danny White to talk the talk and
walk the walk. White – in the prime of his career – had the added
benefit of a relatively-loaded, veteran-laden offense (Tony
Dorsett, Timmy Newsome, Tony Hill, Mike Renfro, Doug Cosbie, and Tom
Rafferty towing the line) and an equally-aging-yet-still-FLEXible defense (Ed "Too Tall"
Jones, John Dutton, Randy "Manster" White, Jim Jeffcoat, Eugene "Hittin'
Machine" Lockhart, Everson Walls, Ron Fellows, Bill Bates, and
Michael Downs) that forced opponents (more often than not) to submit.
Even when White enjoyed play-call and roster weaknesses of
few-to-no, Daring Danny still managed to incite the famously stoic
Tom Landry into infamously yelling: "No, Danny! NO!" And a forceful
fishy claim decades later – towards the end of a certain Seattle
playoff game deflator – may, May, MAY have also bubbled up from the
Big Tuna about Romo.
Both Danny White and Tony Romo had to keep their head on a swivel
due to untimely pass protection drivel. White had Phil "Holding
Number 75" Pozderac, and Romo had Doug (Feel) Free (to run right by me
and blast my QB). While Free did have his productive streaks,
he also – on occasion – had referees scrambling for a last
rites cleric.
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- Romo rarely enjoyed the consistent
health, skill, and play execution of the offensive lines and
determined defenses with whom Aikman (and White) played through much
of his prime. Comparing Aikman to Romo – who played for much of his
career within Norvel’s no longer novel system and surrounded with an
inconsistently-stocked roster – either exposes Tony as a big game
imposter or the unfortunate victim of a perpetually unfair crime.
The terrific or terrible truth lies somewhere in the middle of the
gridiron griddle.
Romo – like White – was, again, hardly held blameless in his teams’
postseason
blight, even on occasions where Tony did many team-uplifting things
right.
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- During each of the Cowboys’ three
consecutive 8-8 seasons, there were season-extending moments – in the presence of bumps
and bruises but in the clear absence of a reasonably-loaded team –
when only Tony’s
IMPROVISATIONAL MAGIC SHOW could bridge the gap, between NFC East
division winners and drawing straws to take the wrap. The
fate-outfoxing opportunities were there, the play calls (from a
creatively constricted coordinator) seemed acceptably right, but the
IN THE MOMENT execution was repeatedly, mind-numbingly shite. It was only later in Romo’s career
(with a steadily-improving offensive line to dampen impulsive
oversteer) that he finally rounded
out his mental maturity and became a truly complete veteran QB. Just
when Tony needed one final magic spell to escape his own
injury-driven mortality, Harry Romo, err, Tony Houdini came up empty.
Will He Or Won’t He?
If Romo and TV commentating get along well, he may finally be able
to tell his lingering what-ifs to go to hell. If Tony
determines the booth experience is too taxing – and straight up
retirement appears too relaxing – would he dare entertain a
return to the field with a body that (while well-rested) is no
longer maxing? Romo – lest any fan or prognosticator forget – merely
quit the NFL and yet, he also knows without another similarly great-and-protective
wall, he could unwisely suffer a deeply permanent fall.
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- Romo (ridiculously?) has not yet turned in his paperwork to the league office to
officially retire. He most certainly still has the playing desire,
competitive fire, and game day services to sell (to a contending
team with an offensive line shockingly capable of protecting him
from more injury hell). The Tortured
Cowboys Fan hopes, however, that Tony sees his playing career truth,
potentially prognosticates like the announcing
greats, and hits it out of the booth. The SIX MILLION, err, 108
MILLION DOLLAR MAN would also appear to be saddling the Dallas
Cowboys with a dead money cap hit that triggers “some” fans to abuse
something stronger than Vermouth.
Will Romo give himself a robust chance
to become a righteous regular on many a game day broadcast or give into the
dangerous urge to put his brittle body back on game day blast? Will
Tony determine (like not so many other equally-intense NFL competitors before him,
who chose to stop before things got seriously dim) that he has, indeed, rung his last
helmet-wearing bell and begrudgingly accept that there are no
further grid iron demons he can realistically return to quell?
We shall see. We always do.
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