Cowboys 1st & 10: Romo Polarization and Rams Preview
Our Top 60 Cowboys elicited one 'polarizing' response about Tony Romo ... and we turn the page to get you ready for Dallas Cowboys At Los Angeles Rams "Sunday Night Football!''
1) Where's Tony Romo?
I hope that you enjoyed our CowboysSI.com Top 60 All-Time Greatest Dallas Cowboys countdown, which has been running since the start of September. I know that I enjoyed digging deep into Cowboys history to try and determine the Top 60 greatest Cowboys. If you missed any parts of the series, you can find the links below or you can hit me up at @PostinsPostcard on Twitter. Some of you already have.
I received some feedback through Twitter throughout the process and I appreciate all the Cowboys fans who saw the stories and interacted. But as always, there was one player that caused quite the reaction.
It never ceases to amaze me how much Tony Romo moves the needle.
It wasn't my intention to get more attention by ranking Romo where I ranked him. I simply ranked Romo where I believed that he should be ranked based on the criteria I used. If you read each of the articles you'll note that I include specific criteria. I will freely admit that the idea of ‘greatest’ is in the eye of the beholder. If you look at the players ranked above Romo on this list you'll notice that most of them have several All-Pro nods, Super Bowl rings or are either in the Ring of Honor or the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
We can debate the merits of that if you like, but in the world of pro football, championships and awards are as important as sheer numbers. And that has never been more clear than at the quarterback position.
No position in professional sports is as polarizing as quarterback, and in Dallas it hasn’t mattered if it is Don Meredith, Roger Staubach, Danny White, Troy Aikman or Dak Prescott is under center. All eyes are on the quarterback and no one is spared, not even the two Super Bowl champions on that list.
Whether it's fair or not, the quarterback for any pro football team gets more attention, gets more praise and gets more blame than any other player on the team. As I approached the idea of ranking the five quarterbacks that made the Top 60, I feel Romo was ranked appropriately. I felt as the leading passer in team history he deserved to be ranked ahead of White and Meredith, but without any Super Bowl rings, or much less an appearance in an NFC Championship game, I could not rank him ahead of Staubach or Aikman. We can debate that all you want. But championships matter. And they especially matter in an organization that has won five Super Bowls.
What’s interesting about Romo is that we never stop debating him. Perhaps it’s the knowledge that he probably deserved more, given his talent and, at times, the talent around him. There is that unfulfilled success that Cowboys fans see, I think. He is now entering his fourth season as a broadcaster and pretty soon the Pro Football Hall of Fame will consider him for induction. I have no doubt that Romo will be included on the initial ballot as part of the large group of players that will be considered. Whether he becomes a semi-finalist or a finalist, or even a Hall of Famer, will be up to the committee. But you can be sure it will create a great deal of debate among Cowboys fans, among NFL fans, and even casual NFL fans.
If you care, here's what I think. I don't think Tony Romo is a Hall-of-Famer. But I don't think that the problem is Romo’s lack of postseason success. There are players in the Hall who have never won a Super Bowl, most notably Dan Marino. The difference is that Marino retired as the top passing quarterback in the NFL. There was no denying he was one of the most prolific and talented passers in the game.
When it comes to the Hall you need at least one of two things — Super Bowl rings or sheer numbers. It’s best if you have both. But if you don’t have one, you’d better have the other.
Romo, in my opinion, doesn’t have the sheer numbers. Right now Romo is No. 32 on the NFL’s list of passing yardage with 34,183 yards and 248 touchdowns. He would stand a much better chance of getting in if he hadn’t lost 42 games to injury, or being benched (in 2016 once he was healthy) after he got the starting job during the 2006 season. He lost three games in 2008, 10 in 2010, one each in 2013 and 2014, 12 in 2015 and 15 in 2016. And these were serious injuries, too. Not bumps and bruises.
Now imagine if Romo had just produced his per-16-game averages for those 42 missed games (that’s 4,082 yards and 30 touchdowns every 16 games) then Romo would have had an additional 10,715 yards and 78 touchdowns for his career. That would put Romo at 44,898 career passing yards and 326 touchdowns. Right now, that would rank No. 15 in passing yards. That would put him in the wheelhouse of three Hall of Famers without a Super Bowl ring — Dan Fouts, Fran Tarkenton and Warren Moon. Plus, without those injuries, Romo would have likely played at least a year or two longer and might have 50,000 passing yards. If Romo had numbers like that, I’d be much more bullish about his Hall of Fame chances even without Super Bowl rings.
I like Tony Romo. I think just about every Cowboys fan out there likes him as a person. And while I firmly believe that Tony Romo was one of the best players in Cowboys history and will one day end up in the Cowboys Ring of Honor, I don't believe that he is one of the best players in pro football history.
You can take that for whatever it's worth. Mine is only one opinion. But you can be sure that once Romo’s candidacy for the Hall of Fame is on the clock, we will be back to having this debate yet again.
2) The Top 60 All-Time Dallas Cowboys Countdown
We wrapped up our Top 60 Dallas Cowboys of all-time on Saturday, as part of celebrating the Cowboys’ 60 seasons in Dallas. We presented the Top 60 in groups of five. We hope you enjoyed the series and if you have an opinion, take them to our Cowboy Maven community or hit me up on Twitter at @PostinsPostcard (as you read above, someone did).
If you missed any of the stories in our Top 60, just click on them below.
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 56-60
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 51-55
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 46-50
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 41-45
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 36-40
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 31-35
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 26-30
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 21-25
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 16-20
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 11-15
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 6-10
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 1-5
3) Cowboys Anniversary Countdown: Top 60 (Plus) Moments
Despite the existence of an entire generation of DFW 20-somethings that have yet to witness it with their own eyes, the Dallas Cowboys were once a successful, superior organization.
They’re still proud. Still relevant. Just, let’s be honest, no longer very good.
Our Heroes Have Always Been ... Er, Were Once Cowboys.
Our Richie Whitt dives into the Top 60 Moments in Dallas Cowboys history.
4) This week in Dak Prescott
During preparation for this week’s season opener Dak Prescott opened up on the death of his brother, Jace, who committed suicide earlier this year. During an appearance on ‘In Depth with Graham Bensinger,’ Prescott had a lot to say about Jace’s death, including this:
“Obviously tears and tears and tears,” Prescott said of his reaction. “I mean, I sat there and tried to gather what had happened, and wanted to ask why for so many reasons. ... I'll never get another hug like the ones he gave.” There is video embedded in our piece if you wish to watch.
Later this week, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know what happened. And I really hate to give the person that catalyzed this controversy any oxygen because, frankly, he doesn’t deserve it. His ‘apology’ was plain ridiculous. But what Dak did in response is what deserves our attention. To me, it’s what a man does.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys re-negotiated guard Zack Martin’s contract, freeing up $8 million in cap space. Why do it now? Our Mike Fisher wrote that the planned reason was to prepare to shovel a whole lot of money at Prescott this coming spring. And, in case you think the Cowboys are just clearing space for the heck of it (or for the white whale that is Earl Thomas), the Cowboys redirected money from Demarcus Lawrence’s contract, too.
That’s more than $20 million in cap space to use however they please (but count on it not being used until next spring).
And, if you need some context on said controversy from earlier this week, watch Mike Fisher’s video about Prescott and the instigator (sorry, done saying the guy’s name).
That led to a first-class idea from NFL Network’s Cowboys reporter, Jane Slater.
5) Things that will help you this Sunday vs. Rams
If you’re still getting ready for Sunday night’s game with the Rams, here is come great content to get you prepped:
➡️ The Oddest Opener: Cowboys At Rams & Dallas' Top 10 Week 1s
➡️ Cowboys NFL Fantasy: Prop Bets On Zeke, Dak & Amari
➡️ Cowboys Reveal Week 1 Depth Chart - Top 5 Surprises
➡️ Ezekiel Elliott: Some Cowboys Will Kneel on Sunday
➡️ Should Cowboys CeeDee Lamb Return Punts?
➡️ McCarthy's Cowboys Begin '20-Game Plan' For NFL Season
➡️ Cowboys Say Amari, Awuzie & Xavier 'Full Capacity' For Rams
6) Cowboys Blitzcast: Casillas & Teague & Super Bowl Talk
Super Bowl rings sit at our broadcast table as we discuss the 2020 Dallas Cowboys' chances of adding another ...
One ex-Cowboy, Tony Casillas, addresses the Cowboys current D-line and Terrell Owens while another ex-Cowboy, Lincoln Coleman, shares how Michael Irvin pranked him into thinking he was cut. And of course another ex-Cowboy, George Teague, is the weekly ringleader with “IndyCarTim” Hamm.
Give the podcast a listen right here.
7) Cowboys Best Coast Pod: The Good And Not So Good Of 53-Man Roster
Some good ... some not so good.
In the latest episode of the “Best Coast Boys” podcast, hosts Landon McCool and the Dallas Morning News’ John Owning take a look at the Dallas Cowboys roster after the cutdown to 53.
After the pleasantries, a position-by-position look at the Cowboys after roster cutdowns..
Give the Best Coast Pod a listen today.
Oh, and be aware of a late add ... Fish has the background of the elevated Brandon Carr story here.
8) Whitt's End: Cowboys 'Prepared To Beat The Rams' - McCarthy
The Dallas Cowboys will wear their blue jerseys Sunday night. Not to fret, traditionalists, they’ll wear their white for 14 of 16 games.
And besides, the "jinx'' is in our heads. It's not in the heads of young players. And it's surely not in the head of new coach Mike McCarthy, who is giving off positive vibes about "preparing to beat the Los Angeles Rams.''
Watch the above and tell me if you are as inspired by McCarthy's cool confidence here as I bet his players are. ...
And then ...
Again, it's not some bold "guarantee'' or former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller planning a parade. It's just ...
Cool. Confidence.
Read Whitt’s End by clicking here.
9) Tweet Of The Week
If we need a plus-one for the Top 60 …
10) The Final Word
Fish is on the story of the SoCal air-quality problem that threatens the Sunday Nighter, and our Bri Amaranthus is on our Cowboys GAMEDAY preview here, in which she quotes Dak Prescott.
