sago1
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Here's pretty good article about Romo. Nothing much in it different from what we've read before. However, in the side note to this article (didn't bother to copy it to include below), the writer said the Bills were one of about 20 teams that attempted to sign Romo when he wasn't drafted but Romo only seriously considered offers from Dallas, Denver & Arizona. Didn't realize there was so much competition for him. We darn lucky his contact with Sean Payton (he also had contact with Mike Shanahan) lead to his decision to sign with the Cowboys because he believed he had better chance to make it with us.
QB Romo shakes off the past to lead his Cowboys
Scott Pitoniak
(October 6, 2007) — ORCHARD PARK — His teammates would call in the offseason and tell him to forget about it.
They knew Tony Romo was down and out about botching that hold on what would have been the winning field goal in January's playoff game against Seattle. They didn't want the young Dallas Cowboys quarterback to carry any guilt feelings into this season.
Romo appreciated their concern, but he wasn't about to forget how his dream season had ended with a nightmare. He decided to use the painful memory as motivation. He purposely thought about it every day. As a result, the hard-worker wound up working even harder. And through four games this season, we've seen what that extra effort has rendered: 1,199 passing yards, an NFL-best 11 touchdown passes and the best start by a Cowboys team in a dozen years.
Romo's meteoric rise from bench-warmer to Pro Bowl quarterback in 2006 clearly was not a fluke. The kid's the real deal, the best QB in Big D since Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman was leading the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles during the early 1990s.
"I think (the fumbled snap) is something you use to work your butt off in the offseason," said Romo, who leads the NFL's highest scoring offense (37.8 points per game) into Buffalo for a nationally televised matchup against the 1-3 Bills Monday night. "You kind of work with a chip on your shoulder."
And you prove to yourself and your teammates that you know how to bounce back from adversity.
"Sometimes in life you have to go through things to get to where you want to go," he said. "If that's the worst thing that happens in my life, I've lived a very good life." The experience taught him much about himself. "It takes you to the depths of you as an individual and you start to get a sense of who you really are," he said.
"It also says a lot about what people think of you." The perception now is that he's an elite quarterback, a guy who may be on the brink of challenging the likes of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
And what makes his story even more compelling is the path he's taken. Undrafted after a senior season in which he tossed 34 touchdown passes for Division I-AA Eastern Illinois, Romo signed a free-agent contract with the Cowboys in 2003, and barely made the team. As Dallas shuffled in veterans like Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe as well as inexperienced quarterbacks like Drew Henson and Quincy Carter, Romo managed to hold onto his roster spot. At times he was hanging by a thread.
Then, in the second half of a prime-time game against the New York Giants on Oct. 23, 2006, Romo replaced the aging, ineffective Bledsoe, and pumped new life into the offense. Coach Bill Parcells decided to start Romo the next week. It was a wise move as Romo guided Dallas to a 6-4 record down the stretch and earned an invitation to play in the Pro Bowl.
"There are plenty of guys who've gone the route I have," he said, downplaying his rapid transformation from nobody to star. "You just try to keep getting better each year and hope your opportunity is going to come. I learned long ago about what happens when preparation meets opportunity . . . I was lucky enough to prepare for a long time and when the opportunity came, I tried to make the most of it."
The move to replace Bledsoe with a virtual unknown surprised some, but not Romo. "When it happened I was excited," he said. "I felt like I was ready. I'd been in the league almost four years at that point. I kind of looked at it this way: 'Well, either you are good enough to do this or you're not, so let's go find out.'"
He proved he was more than ready, and this year he's taken his game to an even higher level. Romo said he loves playing for old Bills and new Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips ("We are lucky to be around him every day. He makes things fun.")
He also has developed a good relationship with enigmatic wide receiver Terrell Owens, who frequently called Romo in the offseason to offer encouragement.
"He works his butt off out there every day," the quarterback said of T.O. "He is a great player who wants to succeed and who wants to see us succeed as a team. When people want to win as badly as I do, then we'll be good friends."
The outgoing Romo admits he might have struggled initially with the celebrity that comes with quarterbacking the Cowboys. But the quarterback who's been romantically linked to country music artist Carrie Underwood appears to have a good perspective on things.
About the only thing that's suffered since he became the starter is his golf game. He's a scratch golfer who has attempted unsuccessfully to qualify for several pro tournaments, including the U.S. Open. Other than that, life has been grand for the 27-year-old from Burlington, Wis.
"My dream was to come out and play in the NFL," he said. "Just make a team and play, and be lucky enough to do this for a living." After what's happened the past 14 games, Romo will have to readjust his goals.
QB Romo shakes off the past to lead his Cowboys
Scott Pitoniak
(October 6, 2007) — ORCHARD PARK — His teammates would call in the offseason and tell him to forget about it.
They knew Tony Romo was down and out about botching that hold on what would have been the winning field goal in January's playoff game against Seattle. They didn't want the young Dallas Cowboys quarterback to carry any guilt feelings into this season.
Romo appreciated their concern, but he wasn't about to forget how his dream season had ended with a nightmare. He decided to use the painful memory as motivation. He purposely thought about it every day. As a result, the hard-worker wound up working even harder. And through four games this season, we've seen what that extra effort has rendered: 1,199 passing yards, an NFL-best 11 touchdown passes and the best start by a Cowboys team in a dozen years.
Romo's meteoric rise from bench-warmer to Pro Bowl quarterback in 2006 clearly was not a fluke. The kid's the real deal, the best QB in Big D since Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman was leading the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles during the early 1990s.
"I think (the fumbled snap) is something you use to work your butt off in the offseason," said Romo, who leads the NFL's highest scoring offense (37.8 points per game) into Buffalo for a nationally televised matchup against the 1-3 Bills Monday night. "You kind of work with a chip on your shoulder."
And you prove to yourself and your teammates that you know how to bounce back from adversity.
"Sometimes in life you have to go through things to get to where you want to go," he said. "If that's the worst thing that happens in my life, I've lived a very good life." The experience taught him much about himself. "It takes you to the depths of you as an individual and you start to get a sense of who you really are," he said.
"It also says a lot about what people think of you." The perception now is that he's an elite quarterback, a guy who may be on the brink of challenging the likes of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
And what makes his story even more compelling is the path he's taken. Undrafted after a senior season in which he tossed 34 touchdown passes for Division I-AA Eastern Illinois, Romo signed a free-agent contract with the Cowboys in 2003, and barely made the team. As Dallas shuffled in veterans like Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe as well as inexperienced quarterbacks like Drew Henson and Quincy Carter, Romo managed to hold onto his roster spot. At times he was hanging by a thread.
Then, in the second half of a prime-time game against the New York Giants on Oct. 23, 2006, Romo replaced the aging, ineffective Bledsoe, and pumped new life into the offense. Coach Bill Parcells decided to start Romo the next week. It was a wise move as Romo guided Dallas to a 6-4 record down the stretch and earned an invitation to play in the Pro Bowl.
"There are plenty of guys who've gone the route I have," he said, downplaying his rapid transformation from nobody to star. "You just try to keep getting better each year and hope your opportunity is going to come. I learned long ago about what happens when preparation meets opportunity . . . I was lucky enough to prepare for a long time and when the opportunity came, I tried to make the most of it."
The move to replace Bledsoe with a virtual unknown surprised some, but not Romo. "When it happened I was excited," he said. "I felt like I was ready. I'd been in the league almost four years at that point. I kind of looked at it this way: 'Well, either you are good enough to do this or you're not, so let's go find out.'"
He proved he was more than ready, and this year he's taken his game to an even higher level. Romo said he loves playing for old Bills and new Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips ("We are lucky to be around him every day. He makes things fun.")
He also has developed a good relationship with enigmatic wide receiver Terrell Owens, who frequently called Romo in the offseason to offer encouragement.
"He works his butt off out there every day," the quarterback said of T.O. "He is a great player who wants to succeed and who wants to see us succeed as a team. When people want to win as badly as I do, then we'll be good friends."
The outgoing Romo admits he might have struggled initially with the celebrity that comes with quarterbacking the Cowboys. But the quarterback who's been romantically linked to country music artist Carrie Underwood appears to have a good perspective on things.
About the only thing that's suffered since he became the starter is his golf game. He's a scratch golfer who has attempted unsuccessfully to qualify for several pro tournaments, including the U.S. Open. Other than that, life has been grand for the 27-year-old from Burlington, Wis.
"My dream was to come out and play in the NFL," he said. "Just make a team and play, and be lucky enough to do this for a living." After what's happened the past 14 games, Romo will have to readjust his goals.