Were Tony Romo to never play another down for the Dallas Cowboys again, he would still leave the team a four-time Pro Bowler and the franchise career leader in touchdown passes and passing yards, leaving Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach in the dust. (And for all the flack Romo gets for coming up short in the postseason, he’s still won two playoff games; his eight TDs compared to just two interceptions suggest other parts of the team deserve a bigger share of the blame.)
ESPN has assembled an oral history of his early days with the Cowboys, featuring interviews with owner Jerry Jones, former coach Bill Parcells, and many, many teammates. The consensus: The rise of Romo was a genuine shock to all. (After all, Romo went undrafted in 2003.) Here’s what one teammate said:
“To be honest with you, I thought he was gonna get cut. He was terrible. He couldn’t even get the snap. He was horrible; he was absolutely horrible. He did bring breakfast sandwiches on time on Fridays, but he was terrible on the field.”
Those words were uttered by Quincy Carter, the one-time Dallas starting quarterback who soon found himself off the team and out of the league. Of course, every NFL quarterback has a moment when he realizes time has passed him by. Now 36 and having battled numerous injuries, Romo has watched the team rally behind the similarly unheralded rookie QB Dak Prescott. Even if his time as a starter for Dallas is over, Romo can take solace in knowing that he beat the odds like no quarterback this side of former stock boy Kurt Warner.
To read the full oral history of Tony Romo, click here. At the bottom, watch him show off his greatness as a scrambler.
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