Tony Romo: a Texas Sports Hero by Jorge Iber

Author:Jorge Iber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Texas Tech University Press
Published: 2022-09-20T06:21:33+00:00

Cowboys won, 37–27. Not only that, but he also set the team record for most touchdown passes in a season (up to 33 at this point—the previous mark had been 29 by Danny White), as well as connecting for passing scores in his sixteenth consecutive game. At this point, Dallas was 11–1. They defeated Detroit the next week, and Romo threw two more touchdowns.10

Things changed, however, on Sunday, December 16. Against the Eagles, Tony’s string of games with scoring passes ended with a thud, as he completed only 13 of 36 attempts, had three interceptions, was sacked four times, and fumbled twice. The naysayers, once again, came out in full force. Randy Galloway chimed in, stating that, “When Romo stinks it up . . . the Cowboys have zero answers. . . . It’s a Romo world, both the good, and now the bad.” Likewise, Jennifer Floyd Engel was not subtle in her criticism. “Decembers have long been where promising Cowboys teams fade. . . . Of course, this holiday season was supposed to be a lot jollier.” Dallas was headed for the playoffs, but the concerns from earlier years were, once again, rearing their heads.11

Dallas split its final two games of the season, to finish off with a 13–3 record. That meant they would host a playoff game. Since they won their division, Dallas had a week off before playing. During that time, Tony took a short vacation to Mexico and brought starlet Jessica Simpson along. Some fans were not happy with this decision, given what happened in Seattle. Still, there were many in Dallas who did not see a reason to worry. After all, Tony had the best single season of any signal caller in Cowboys’ history in 2007. He threw for 4,211 yards, had 36 scores and 19 picks, while completing more than 64 percent of his passes. Tony, as usual, took things in stride: “I know what I needed to get myself in a position to hopefully be successful. . . . I was able to put the phone aside and get myself ready and watch some football for two straight days.” At least one local scribe, Newy Scruggs, believed that all of this would blow over when Dallas won its home playoff game. “Romo has yet to win a playoff game. . . . Time for Romo to get his first victory.” The foe coming into Dallas would be a familiar one: the New York Giants.12

Cowboys fans all over the nation looked forward to “welcoming” the team from the big city to Texas for a second time. After all, the season started with Dallas whipping the visitors, 45–35. Then, in their ninth game of 2007, the Cowboys won against the Giants in New Jersey, 31–20. Surely, this third meeting would produce the same results, right? Well, not quite. The home team outgained the visitors by more than 100 yards (336 to 230) and controlled the ball for 13 more minutes, 36:30 to 23:30, two figures that usually mean victory.

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