‘RomoRage’ Growing In CowboysNation
Romo-haters are taking it up a notch.
Where once it was enough to simply say Dallas Cowboy’s QB, Tony Romo, stinks, now some are even suggesting Tim Tebow would be a better option for the Cowboys. That’s just mean. Not only that, but many are blindly attacking Romo’s personal integrity, like that has anything to do with his QB skills.
Dec 2, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) smiles prior to the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
It’s not just in Texas either. Out here in California, I struck up a conversation with a guy that noticed my watch had a blue star on it. “Cowboys fan, huh?” he said. Then with out waiting for any kind of confirmation, he starts telling me how horrible Tony Romo is. How he’s just in it for the money and could care less about you and me. This guy, who doesn’t know me from Adam, thousands of miles away from Dallas, just goes off to me about Romo. He just assumes I already agree with him because I’m a Cowboys fan.
Thing about it was, his intensity took me aback a little bit so I hesitated for a second to think of how I could tell him that I like Romo and that I think the real issue is Garrett’s offensive scheme. But the only thing I could think of quickly was Romo’s stats. That he has a plus 90 rating every year and not Aikman nor Staubach can say that. Big mistake. “Statistics don’t mean sh@#, the guys a loser!” he tells me. All of a sudden, I’m realizing that this total stranger is ready to get into an argument with another total stranger about Tony Romo. He assumes I’m a Cowboys fan and I guess I should assume he’s a Cowboys fan too. but I don’t know for sure.
The guy abruptly ends the conversation before I’m able to contemplate how to end it myself or continue the conversation in defense of Romo. “Let’s hope Jerry pulls his head out his ass before he destroys the team. Go Cowboys!” he said and walked away. “Go Cowboys” I said as he left. Then another bystander who overheard the conversation, says to me, gesturing toward the guy that just left, “Diehard Cowboys fan”. I just nodded. Then this new guy says “I’m a Raiders fan, we’re not crazy like you guys (meaning Cowboys fans) are”.
This made me think of two things: Cowboys fans are everywhere, and when did Cowboys fans start to seem crazy to Raiders fans? The answer to that second thought might just be, when Tony Romo became our quarterback.
I don’t remember, even in the Danny White days, a Cowboys player that is more polarizing than Romo. And not just in the NFL. Romo made the list of most disliked sports figures, along with Michael Vick and Lance Armstrong. I don’t think Romo killed dogs for sport or doped to win races and lied about it, but he’s on the list just the same. Tony brings out a level of rage in some people that makes no sense. Coaches and players and scouts that are much wiser about these things, say Romo is a very good QB. How come so many diehard Cowboys fans, and people like Joe Theismann think he’s not good at all? This all begs the question:
What did Tony Romo ever do to you?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for varying opinions, especially about Romo. Let’s face it, he’s earned much of the criticism. But, why the RomoRage? Is it because he seemed like the QB that was gonna take the Cowboys back to it’s rightful place in the SuperBowl, but never did? A promise never kept? A promise Romo never made, but one that we imposed on him because of his potential? The sports media was dying to make the Cowboys relevant again, because they are always ratings juggernauts, Romo comes along and they, along with owner Jerry Jones, hyped him to much? That’s not Romo’s fault either.
What ever the cause, Romo-haters are not satisfied to just not like Romo, they are in a rage about him. No matter how illogical or off base.