Giants Great Elevates Former Cowboys QB Tony Romo Above Peyton Manning, Tom Brady

You won't believe the level of praise a New York Giants great gave former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

New York Giants great Osi Umenyiora has made multiple shocking claims involving former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

Umenyiora sat down with RJ Ochoa of Blogging The Boys and said he believes Romo was the toughest quarterback his Giants faced during his days with New York.

That's right, even tougher than Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and future Hall of Famer Tom Brady, both of whom are widely considered two of the greatest in NFL history.

"Tony Romo was the most difficult quarterback we ever faced. He was No. 1," Umenyiora said. "We played against the GOAT, Tom Brady, the greatest of all time. Played against Peyton Manning.

"But for me personally, my level of respect for Tony Romo, having faced him year in and year out, such an underrated football player. People don't understand the type of headache he was as a player. They don't give him enough credit. If he would've won the Super Bowl, which he should have, I think things would have been different."

Not only did Umenyiora say all that, he also called Romo "one of the all-time great NFL quarterbacks."

"But without a shadow of a doubt, one of the all-time great NFL quarterbacks and they need to put a lot more respect on that man's name," Umenyiora concluded.

Osi Umenyiora played against the Tony Romo Dallas Cowboys, so I was curious for his thoughts on Romo overall.

He called him the best quarterback that they ever faced in that time. He was very specific that he was the best.

Some high praise. pic.twitter.com/6rWOJkiGGx

— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) May 26, 2026

Well, talk about hearing something we didn't have on our lifetime bingo card.

That's not to say Romo wasn't a very good quarterback, because he was, but the former Cowboys signal-caller being labeled as one of the all-time greats and being elevated above Manning and Brady in any regard is not something you hear often, if ever.

Tony Romo's history against Giants

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

Romo certainly gave the Giants fits during his career after posting an 11-9 record against Big Blue over 20 career games.

Romo completed 67.4% of his passes for 4,639 yards and 41 touchdowns to 21 interceptions, and he posted a career 100.7 passer rating against New York.

Despite playing in 19 contests against the Philadelphia Eagles and 20 games against Washington, Romo threw for over 1,100 more yards versus New York than Philly, and more than 600 yards as compared to Washington.

Should Tony Romo be in the Hall of Fame?

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

When you hear all-time great, you immediately think Hall of Fame.

We know Romo isn't in the Hall of Fame, and chances are he's never going to get there, despite Umenyiora's praise.

Romo was a four-time Pro Bowler and notched a single second-team All-Pro nod, but he never won an MVP award nor a Super Bowl, with the latter fact hurting his candidacy the most.

He also didn't enjoy a very long career, with Romo being a starter for 10 of his 13 seasons in the NFL.

Romo was, however inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2021.