PARCELLS SOUNDS OFF: The coach on his new QB
"He doesn't allow Tony any satisfaction," Dallas tight end Jason Witten says of Parcells' needling of Romo. "He doesn't give him any room to breathe as far as, 'You are doing a good job.' I think Tony appreciates that, because everybody on the outside allows him to get this big head. Bill's just here to humble him, and he does a good job of it."
Tuesday, Parcells had a postpractice task for his 26-year-old quarterback.
"I told him to Google up the name of a guy whose star burned real brightly for a short time in this league," says Parcells, declining to specify the flash in the pan. "I give him a homework assignment, then he has to come back and tell me about the guy, who it was, what happened."
Given that Parcells proudly describes himself as a Neanderthal, Romo says his reaction was, "You've worked on a computer before?"
"Me and him have got a really good relationship," says Romo, adding the needling "happens so many times, it's like water on the back of a duck. It just rolls off. It happens weekly."
And for four years while Parcells groomed Romo. The quarterback remembers one of the early barbs, when Parcells likened him to a ball in high grass.
"He waits for you to say, 'What's that mean?' " Romo says. Then, doing a Parcells imitation, Romo shouts, " 'Lost!' "
But despite all his staged grumpiness, Parcells clearly is in sync with his new quarterback. He likes that Romo is an avid student of football history and has in his locker a copy of Tom Callahan's book on Johnny Unitas, Johnny U: The Life and Times of John Unitas.
At home, Romo is reading David Maraniss' When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi. Parcells was particularly happy this week when Romo asked him about a coach he had never heard of, Lombardi's early mentor on the Army coaching staff, Red Blaik.
"That's one thing I like about Tony. He wants to know about his predecessors," Parcells says. "A lot of good players that I have had have exhibited that characteristic."
