Tag Archives: Tony Romo

The NFL Dead Man of the Year Award

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Before every season, Red selects one unlucky soul as “Dead Man of the Year” for the previous season. The DMOTY goes every season to the player who Red reckons went from being an important cog in his team’s machinery to a completely useless tool sitting on the sidelines scratching his balls. That is, it recognizes the player who benefitted his team just about the same as would have a “Dead Man.”

And while injury alone cannot get you a DMOTY plaque to hang in your mancave, not being able to reclaim your job when healthy will factor into Red’s consideration. So as with last year, there really wasn’t much serious competition among the dead wannabes in 2016.  JJ Watt is not in the running because he had a season-ending injury.  Brock Osweiler lost his job in week 14, was on life support until Tom Savage went down and then he actually guided his team to a playoff win (albeit against the rudderless Raiders). Darrell Revis got scorched early and often but did make some plays. Cam Newton set a nearly impossible standard to match in 2015 and so his mediocre 2016 (behind a truly horrid offensive line) looks worse than it should.  Flacco Joe has been waiting in the wings for a DMOTY for almost decade – he was close in 2016 but his time will come.

And while there may never be another player as worthy of the DMOTY award as Johnny Football in 2015, Red is proud -mind you – proud to present the 2016 Dead Man of the Year Award to none other than Tony Romo.

The longtime Cowboys’ quarterback was injured in the pre-season and unavailable for much of the season. But despite his impressive career over parts of 10 seasons and the old adage that you don’t lose your job because of injury, TR was unable to get back in the lineup to replace a rookie until he played a series in the Cowboys meaningless last game against the hapless Eagles.  To give TR credit, he led his team on a 6 play scoring drive ending with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Williams.  Other than that – bupkis – as rookie Dak Prescott stole the ever pliable hearts of dedicated Cowboys fans – at least until the playoff game against the Packers when he did a reasonable “Tony Romo in the Playoffs” impersonation until a wild 4th quarter.  And even if it bends the rules just a bit, Red is more than happy to do so to name Tony as the 2016 DMOTY.  As it turns out, the 2016 DMOTY award may be the final trophy on the Romo family shelf – unless the dedicated golfer makes it to the Senior Tour.  Straight and long, Tony.

No Mo’ Romo (cont.)

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ESPN is reporting that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will retire and take up a career in broadcasting.  This means that all of Houston can let out a collective sigh of relief (or cry of agony as the case may be).  Red for one is glad that the Texans will not fall for the trap of signing a tired, old Tony Romo to be their starting QB for what would likely be 3 games before he goes down for the season.   The idea that TR was the answer to the Texans’ quarterback problem always struck Red as ludicrous.  Romo had a track record of near abject failure in the playoffs and to think that would change in Houston was a pipedream.

Dallas is expected to designate Romo as a post-June 1 release, softening the blow against the Cowboys’ cap this season. Instead of counting $24.7 million in 2017, Romo would count $10.7 million this year and $8.9 million in 2018. The Cowboys would gain $14 million in cap space, but it would not become available until June 2. But after Tuesday, Romo will no longer be with the Cowboys.

Romo’s decision came down to his health, sources close to the situation told ESPN. Romo, who turns 37 on April 21, believes his family and his health are paramount at this time in his life. He was limited to playing in just parts of five games over the past two seasons because of collarbone and back injuries, and he suffered a compression fracture in his back last August that led to him ultimately giving way to Dak Prescott.

The upside for Red is that Romo is rumored to replace addled and incoherent Phil Simms in the booth next to overrated and annoying Jim Nantz.   Nothing would make Red happier than TR having to put up with prima donna Nantz and his smarminess on 18 weekends next season.

No Mo’ Romo

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ESPN is reporting that the Dallas Cowboys (meaning Jerry Jones) will release veteran quarterback Tony Romo on Thursday.  The move will save the Cowboys some money against the 2017 salary cap although they will still take a major hit for a quarterback that has played in a handful of games over the last two seasons.  Red does not pretend to understand the intricacies of the NFL’s salary cap rules, but apparently if Romo is a June 1 designation (whatever the hell that means), the  Cowboys would take a $10.7 million hit on the 2017 cap and $8.9 million on the 2018 cap.   If released without the designation, the Cowboys will save $5.1 million against the salary cap but will carry $19.6 million in dead money (again whatever that means) for 2017.

Romo who was undrafted signed as a free agent with the Cowboys in 2003, but did not see the field until the 2006 season when he replaced Drew Bledsoe at halftime of the Giants game.  He never again left the field that season and led the Cowboys to a 9-7 record and a playoff spot.  His most infamous moment came in his first playoff game (against the Seahawks) when he botched the snap on a field goal attempt that would have secured the Cowboys first playoff win in almost a decade.  Red still remembers laughing uncontrollably for several minutes.

Romo finishes his career with the Cowboys with a record 78-49 as a starter.  His 34,183 passing yards and 248 touchdown passes are the most in team history.  Romo holds team records for most 300-yard passing games (46), multiple touchdown pass games (79) and consecutive games with a touchdown pass (38). He also holds the Cowboys records for most yards in a season (4,903 yards in 2012)  and in a game (506 against the Broncos in 2013), and the NFL record with a touchdown pass in 41 straight road games.

All of that is well and good, but Romo was 2-4 in the playoffs and never played in a conference championship game.  Thus, by Cowboys standards, he was a miserable failure as a quarterback.  Red dearly hopes that the Texans do not fall for a 37 year-old often injured quarterback with a track record of playoff failure.