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Romo deals with collapse of his Cinderella season
Posted: Sunday January 7, 2007 2:32AM; Updated: Sunday January 7, 2007 3:07AM
Tony Romo couldn't watch after his fumble cost the Cowboys a shot at a 19-yard field goal with 1:19 to play.
SEATTLE -- Tony Romo sat in front of his locker; his back to the rest of the room, his arms crossed, his head bowed and his eyes shut tight. How did his dream turn into a nightmare so quickly?
He sat motionless as players around him busily packed their bags after their season had come to an end a few moments earlier. How did he let the game slip right through his hands?
After few more minutes of solitude, Romo got up, his eyes transfixed on the blue carpet below him as he grabbed a Cowboys baseball hat and placed it on his head, shoving the bill so low it nearly covered his head. How?
This was not the way Romo's storybook season was supposed to end. Not on a mishandled field goal snap and a subsequent tackle two yards shy of the end zone, giving the Seahawks a thrilling 21-20 win on Wild Card Saturday.
"We haven't had a mishandled snap all year," said Bill Parcells. "That's the way it is."
It almost made sense that a season as up and down as the Cowboys' would end on a play as improbable and unpredictable as that. "That just epitomizes our whole season," said linebacker Bradie James. "We've had opportunities and we've let them slip through our hands."
It looked as if the Cowboys were on their way to their first playoff road win since 1992 after Romo had completed what was initially a seven-yard pass to Jason Witten that gave Dallas a first-and-goal at the one-yard line. After a review, Witten was ruled to be a half yard short, forcing the Cowboys to attempt a 19-yard field goal.
"It seemed like we were going to have it there with the apparent first down," said Parcells, who hasn't made up his mind whether he will return to coach the team next season. "We could have kneeled down on the ball and maybe have taken the last time out. Kneeled it again. The game would have run down to about six seconds and we could have kicked a field goal. But they review it and we had to kick a field goal there."
With most of the media that had been huddled around his locker gone, Romo returned to his locker, his head still lowered and his eyes gazing at the floor. As he began to put on a crimson colored shirt and grey slacks, Witten was packing his bags in the next locker. He stopped for a moment after he reached for his playbook, a red binder that had been placed under his backpack. He began to flip through the pages before stopping near the middle. He had found the play he was looking for.
"I want to see if I could have gotten any deeper on that last play," said Witten, pointing at the play. "Looking at it now I don't think I could have but I wanted to see if there was a chance I could have taken it an extra yard to get that first down. I thought we had the first down there but we had less than an extra point kick there to win the game. It's tough for the season to end like this. It's devastating."
As Witten finished packing his bag, Romo finished getting dressed and put on his grey jacket. As he adjusted the collar, his eyes began to well up as he clenched his lips and looked around the room. He finally allowed his tears out when Stephen Jones, the Cowboys vice president, came over and hugged him and lead him out of the locker room. Before he left through the door, he turned around one more time to take one last look at the locker room as he wiped his eyes dry. "It hurts," said Romo. "It hurts real bad."
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Posted: Sunday January 7, 2007 2:32AM; Updated: Sunday January 7, 2007 3:07AM
Tony Romo couldn't watch after his fumble cost the Cowboys a shot at a 19-yard field goal with 1:19 to play.
SEATTLE -- Tony Romo sat in front of his locker; his back to the rest of the room, his arms crossed, his head bowed and his eyes shut tight. How did his dream turn into a nightmare so quickly?
He sat motionless as players around him busily packed their bags after their season had come to an end a few moments earlier. How did he let the game slip right through his hands?
After few more minutes of solitude, Romo got up, his eyes transfixed on the blue carpet below him as he grabbed a Cowboys baseball hat and placed it on his head, shoving the bill so low it nearly covered his head. How?
This was not the way Romo's storybook season was supposed to end. Not on a mishandled field goal snap and a subsequent tackle two yards shy of the end zone, giving the Seahawks a thrilling 21-20 win on Wild Card Saturday.
"We haven't had a mishandled snap all year," said Bill Parcells. "That's the way it is."
It almost made sense that a season as up and down as the Cowboys' would end on a play as improbable and unpredictable as that. "That just epitomizes our whole season," said linebacker Bradie James. "We've had opportunities and we've let them slip through our hands."
It looked as if the Cowboys were on their way to their first playoff road win since 1992 after Romo had completed what was initially a seven-yard pass to Jason Witten that gave Dallas a first-and-goal at the one-yard line. After a review, Witten was ruled to be a half yard short, forcing the Cowboys to attempt a 19-yard field goal.
"It seemed like we were going to have it there with the apparent first down," said Parcells, who hasn't made up his mind whether he will return to coach the team next season. "We could have kneeled down on the ball and maybe have taken the last time out. Kneeled it again. The game would have run down to about six seconds and we could have kicked a field goal. But they review it and we had to kick a field goal there."
With most of the media that had been huddled around his locker gone, Romo returned to his locker, his head still lowered and his eyes gazing at the floor. As he began to put on a crimson colored shirt and grey slacks, Witten was packing his bags in the next locker. He stopped for a moment after he reached for his playbook, a red binder that had been placed under his backpack. He began to flip through the pages before stopping near the middle. He had found the play he was looking for.
"I want to see if I could have gotten any deeper on that last play," said Witten, pointing at the play. "Looking at it now I don't think I could have but I wanted to see if there was a chance I could have taken it an extra yard to get that first down. I thought we had the first down there but we had less than an extra point kick there to win the game. It's tough for the season to end like this. It's devastating."
As Witten finished packing his bag, Romo finished getting dressed and put on his grey jacket. As he adjusted the collar, his eyes began to well up as he clenched his lips and looked around the room. He finally allowed his tears out when Stephen Jones, the Cowboys vice president, came over and hugged him and lead him out of the locker room. Before he left through the door, he turned around one more time to take one last look at the locker room as he wiped his eyes dry. "It hurts," said Romo. "It hurts real bad."
Link
