Romo bromance deeper after smooth handoff
Sometimes, even in the disorienting galactic electric storm of modern existence, life produces moments of clarity, and here is mine: Tony Romo is my favourite quarterback. I know: I’m as surprised as you are.
Sure, I admire the way Aaron Rodgers goes about playing and living. I enjoy watching Russell Wilson avoid large things. Tom Brady’s fun to watch, despite his support for . . . let’s not go there. Not this week. Some joy must be preserved, as darkness and empires fall.
As for Romo, I have long abhorred the Dallas Cowboys and delighted in their failure for many reasons: the cackling cartoonish evil of Jerry Jones, their absurd self-regard, the America’s Team thing. Screw those guys.
But I always had a soft spot for Romo. His undrafted Eastern Illinois background, his puppy-dog grin, the time he stopped at midnight after a game to help change someone’s tire, and most of all the way he would succeed or fail on the grand, national stage. And no matter how big the failure he kept coming back, kept trying the throw that might get picked, but might mean glory. He was not afraid. He won me over. He’s third all-time in passer rating, too, and won lots of those games. People forget that.
And then came the 36-year-old’s statement this week on losing the starting job after another back injury. It was great.
“To say the first half of the season has been emotional would be a huge understatement. Getting hurt when you feel like you have the best team you’ve ever had was a soul-crushing moment for me. Then to learn it’s not three of four weeks but 10 is another blow. And through it all you have a tremendous amount of guilt on having let your teammates, fans and organization down. After all, they were depending on you to bring them a championship. That’s what quarterbacks are supposed to do. That’s how we’re judged. I love that. I still do.
“But then here you are, sidelined without any real ability to help your teammates win on the field. That’s when you’re forced to come face-toface with what’s happened. Seasons are fleeting. Games become more precious. Chances for success di- minish. Your potential successor has arrived, (you’ve been) injured two years in a row and now in the mid-30s, the press is whispering, everyone has doubts, you’ve spent your career working to get here. Now we have to start all over.
“You almost feel like an outsider. Coaches are sympathetic, but they still have to coach and you’re not there. It’s a dark place. Probably the darkest it’s ever been. You’re sad and down and out and you ask yourself, why did this have to happen? It’s in this moment you find out who you really are and what you’re really about.
“You see, football is a meritocracy. You aren’t handed anything. You earn everything every single day, over and over again. You have to prove it . . . A great example of this is Dak Prescott and what he’s done. He’s earned the right to be our quarterback. As hard as that is for me to say, he’s earned that right. He’s guided our team to an 8-1 record, and that’s hard to do. If you think for a second that I don’t want to be out there, then you’ve probably never felt the pure ecstasy of competing and winning. That hasn’t left me. In fact, it may burn more now than ever.”
The pure ecstasy of competing: That’s as fine a description of playing sports as you’ll find. Romo was honest, and he wasn’t afraid of letting his heart show. People don’t do that a lot, in sports or elsewhere, until they can’t help it.
So, I hope Dallas makes the Super Bowl and Romo is the QB and it comes down to the end, and he has to make the throw that might get picked or make him a hero, and he throws it with all his heart, whatever comes. What the hell.
Last week this space went 7-7. This space fails often. But it will keep trying, because that’s what Tony would do. As always, all lines could change.
THE PICKS
Tampa Bay (+7.5) at Kansas City Andy Reid is 38-19 in Kansas City as the coach, for a franchise that was 2-14 the year before he got there. He might never fully grasp the concept of time, but the man can coach.
Pick: Kansas City Arizona (pick) at Minnesota The Vikings finally released kicker Blair Walsh, who honked that 27yard field goal against Seattle in the playoffs and was never the same. Some mistakes are fatal. Be careful, kids.
Pick: Arizona New England (-13) at San Francisco Colin Kaepernick versus The ProTrump Franchise would be an interesting backdrop, except: Kaepernick, politically conscious dude, didn’t vote. And his team sucks.
Pick: New England