Let’s get things straight: Tony Romo’s retirement received the hero’s goodbye he didn’t deserve and one that nobody could have imagined a few years ago.
Romo was a good quarterback — even elite in some years — but when it comes to “America’s Team,” winning is what matters. On that fact alone, Romo will never be immortalized in Dallas like Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.
It is hard to argue that there is a more prestigious position in professional sports than quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. On the biggest stages, Romo turned pedestrian, winning just two of six playoff games. Aikman and Staubach both won at least 11 playoff games in their careers.
Colin Kaepernick, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton, Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Delhomme all have something in common. They have all won more playoff games in their careers than Romo and have done something Romo never came close to doing: leading their team to the Super Bowl.
While these quarterbacks certainly had help, several media personalities constantly consider the Cowboys a Super Bowl favorite and one of the most talented teams in the league before the start of each season. Let us remember the countless sports talking heads proclaiming, “This is the Cowboys’ year!” even though it never came during the Romo era.
Let us also remember “The Butt Fumble.” Now you may be thinking, what does Mark Sanchez’s infamous football folly have to do with Romo? Well, without that fateful play on Thanksgiving night in 2012, we would likely still be talking about the night of Jan. 6, 2007.
The stage was the NFC Wild Card game, where Romo botched a hold on a 19-yard field goal attempt with 1:19 left and handed the Seattle Seahawks a 21-20 victory. “The Sanchize” managed to one-up one of the most embarrassing moments in NFL history and make most fans forget that devastating night in Seattle.
Romo’s decision to retire and take a job with CBS is a smart one. After Romo’s best year in 2014, injuries interrupted his 2015 and 2016 seasons. Cowboys fans will now ask “What if Romo never got hurt?” instead of the creeping realization that he would never take the Cowboys to the Super Bowl. Now they can focus on looking forward to the promising future of Dak Prescott.
I’m not here to discredit Romo’s accomplishments either. Romo put up great stats in his career including fourth in career passer rating, fifth in career completion percentage and fifth in adjusted yards per pass attempt.
Add in 25 fourth-quarter comebacks and his numbers don’t lie. But in the golden era of NFL quarterbacks, we shouldn’t act like Romo is in the top tier.
Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers comprise the upper echelon of quarterbacks this era, and we act like he is part of that group solely because he played for the Cowboys.
Will Philip Rivers or Carson Palmer get the same widespread love and admiration Romo received when they retire? It’s doubtful even though their careers are much more comparable to Romo’s. There is also no chance either one will be offered the No. 1 analyst spot on a major sports network before even announcing their retirement.
Then there is the glaring antithesis to Romo: Eli Manning. Within Romo’s own division, his NFC East rival never put up gaudy stat lines like Romo. More importantly, he won two Super Bowls and never missed significant time to injury. Romo is the opposite of Manning.
It is the classic sports argument of whether individual or team accomplishment should hold more value. And when you look at Romo’s individual statistics, he’s the better quarterback. Still, it is difficult to look at your rival and see two Super Bowl rings when you can’t reach the same heights.
Now, with Romo in the spotlight as a broadcaster, a larger question remains: is Tony Romo a Hall of Famer? The verdict is out, especially given constant speculation of whether he’ll come back or what it would take for him to play again.
Sports media seems to think he’s locked in for the hall in Canton, Ohio, and your answer likely comes down to your views on individual versus team achievement. My answer: I’m really not sure.
