The tragedy of Tony Romo

When he arrived in the NFL back in 2003, Dallas Cowboys quarterback was nothing more than a backup trying to make a team’s roster. I don’t think anyone at the time, including Romo, would predict that he would eventually become most polarizing player in sport’s history.

Oct 6, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) meets with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) at the end of the game at AT

We all know what happened last Sunday during the game versus the Denver Broncos. Tony Romo leads a spectacular effort to comeback against the best team in the league and in the end he was also the one to let it all slip away with his lone interception. Media members and idiotic fans don’t look at the fact that the defense gave up 51 points and never ever forced a punt on Broncos starting quarterback Peyton Manning. They don’t look at the fact that without the historic performance that Romo put up, the Cowboys would have been blown out by the third quarter. All they looked at is the “meltdown” that Tony Romo had.

That game perfectly summarizes the career Romo has had in the NFL. Started out amazing and fun and fizzles out in the end when you need him to be clutch. Romo’s record in win-or-go home games is 1-6 and his numbers go down in the month of December when games start to matter for the playoffs. People have stated that he is a quarterback with empty statistics and has no clutch DNA in his body. He isn’t a Manning, Brees, Brady, or Rodgers. They point to Giants quarterback Eli Manning as a man who has a clutch gene, as evident by his two Super Bowl wins. But, is that really how Romo is or did the sports world make this image.

Looking at just pure stats, which is the way to judge individual performances, Romo still boasts the highest quarterback rating in NFL history with 102.0 and also has the highest 4^th quarterback rating in NFL history. The problem is that when he does make a mistake, it seems to be very memorable and even more heartbreaking. Remember Seattle? Potential game-winning field goal with less than 2 minutes left in the game. Make a field goal the distance of an extra-point and you hold on to win your first playoff game in over a decade. Yet, Romo fumbles the ball and has to run with it and gets tackled at the one-yard line. Or how about the pick to end the divisional round against the Giants. How about the mess in Philly to end 2008, the butt-whooping in Minnesota in 2009, or the letdowns in back to back NFC East “championship” games. Romo is blamed for all of it, even though his team were the perpetrators in more than half those games.

The real reason why Romo was picked off last Sunday is because tight end Gavin Escobar was bumped off his route, left tackle Tyron Smith’s feet got in the way, and the Broncos made a play. Romo did not choke and to say he did is just insulting to everyone’s intelligence. Be a smarter fan and look at the whole picture before you begin to burn Romo’s jersey in effigy. He is a good to great quarterback and is more than capable of leading his team down to the Super Bowl. Yet, he will always be remembered as a tragedy, just good enough to taste glory, not good enough to devour it. Is it fair? No, nothing is with being a quarterback, especially if you have the star on the side of your helmet. Until then, Romo continues to polarize the sports world.