a fan of the NFL and a bit of a football historian, I find Tony Romo to be one of the most baffling athletes to have ever played the game. On one hand, he is right up there with the most efficient quarterbacks in history. On the other, he is despised by many Dallas Cowboy fans and viewed as a “Choker.” Strangely, regardless of which camp you’re in, viewing Tony Romo as a choke-artist or one of the most efficient signal callers to ever play the game, you are correct. Thus the enigma that is Tony Romo.
In this article we will be exploring the walking contradiction that is Tony Romo. We will be analyzing his career from both statistical and subjective criteria to try to get a grasp on the identity and legacy of this Dallas Cowboys quarterback.
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Love or hate him? You decide.
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Humble Beginnings:
Much of Tony Romo’s early story is quite inspiring. Out of high school he was a moderately recruited quarterback who eventually settled on playing for the Division I-AA Eastern Illinois Panthers. While there he had a stellar career, generating some NFL buzz by winning many accolades, most notably the Walter Payton Award. Despite a significant college career, Romo would go undrafted.
Fighting and clawing his way into the NFL, after three years of development, Romo was given his first chance to start in week 6 of the 2006 season. Romo went on to perform splendidly, posting a 6-4 starting record and leading the Cowboys to the playoffs, where they lost a one point heartbreaker to the Seattle Seahawks.
After the 2006 season, the future looked bright for the Cowboys, but fast-forward 8 years, and still under the arm of Tony Romo, Dallas has only went to the playoffs 3 times with one playoff win. In addition, they have failed to make the post-season in the last 4 years. Cowboy fans are irate and the franchise is in seemingly constant turmoil.
Amidst all of this, Tony Romo has went from media darling to scapegoat, and for the objective fan watching from a distance, it is still unclear which label is most deserved.
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Cowboys legend Troy Aikman
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What has been Impressive about Tony Romo’s Career?
The answer: stats! Tony Romo has never had a bad statistical season. Hard to believe with all the late season woes? Yes it is, but nonetheless true. They are not the gaudy sort of numbers of a Peyton Manning, but they are the highly efficient numbers of say a Steve Young.
Because Dallas has had so many notable quarterbacks, I feel it fair to compare Romo’s statistical output to Hall of Famer and most recent noteworthy Cowboy QB alum Troy Aikman. Before I am tarred and feathered, I want to make it absolutely clear that beyond statistics there is no comparison between the two. Troy Aikman has 3 Super Bowl rings. Enough said! But from the aspect of statistical output, the comparison is quite fascinating.
Tony Romo has completed a higher percentage of his passes than Troy Aikman in his 8 years as a starter, has thrown fewer interceptions at a lower interception percentage, and has thrown more touchdowns. In fact, the majority of these statistical categories are not even close. Most notably, Romo has thrown 208 career touchdowns to only 101 interceptions. Compare that to Aikman’s 165 touchdown tosses and 141 interceptions.
