Blog Article: "Tony Romo: NFL Hall of Famer"

[JPostSam]

the best comparison would probably be steve young. after playing in the usfl, his record after his first 7 seasons in the nfl was 15-24. if not for the 1994 super bowl, he probably wouldn't have made it into the hall of fame.

romo will surpass young's stats with 2 or 3 more good seasons. but, realistically, only a ring would propel into the hall.

 

[Deep_South]

I am a big Tony Romo fan, but the Hall of Fame is on the distant horizon for him right now. He needs at least a couple of deep playoff runs to even be mentioned at the bottom of the list for potential inductees. A couple of Super Bowl wins would probably put him in the running.

 

[Tezz]

You either get in with immense stats/accolades in comparison to your peers which would be stacked up against Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton or the winner way with multiple Superbowls like what Eli and Big Ben are doing. Philip Rivers has the same exact stats as Romo right now... Winning a Superbowl would certainly bring a discussion but he would still need some more I think...

 

[85Cowboy85]

He's not in right now. On the other hand he doesn't necessarily need to win a championship either. The precedent has already been set for QBs with limited to no playoff success to get into the hall (see Warren Moon, Dan Fouts ect.) He has 177 passing TDs. If he reaches 250-300 and maintains his efficiency numbers he still has a very significant case.

Edit: I think if he reaches 300 he's almost a lock regardless. There isn't anybody with 300 TD passes not in the hall of fame and that would tie him with Elway for 7th all time.

 

[Nation]

I don't think he's incapable from a talent perspective, but he is very, very far off from the Hall right now.

 

[JBS]

Even if Romo wins 1 SB he won't get in. He's needs two at the absolute minimum. That's how far off he is right now

 

[Staxxxx]

He's not in right now. On the other hand he doesn't necessarily need to win a championship either. The precedent has already been set for QBs with limited to no playoff success to get into the hall (see Warren Moon, Dan Fouts ect.) He has 177 passing TDs. If he reaches 250-300 and maintains his efficiency numbers he still has a very significant case.

Edit: I think if he reaches 300 he's almost a lock regardless. There isn't anybody with 300 TD passes not in the hall of fame and that would tie him with Elway for 7th all time.

I think I'm as big of a fan of Romo as anyone. I don't think the blame for our lack of playoff success should be laid at Tony's feet and I hope when enough time has passed other nfl fans and the mainstream media will look back on his career and feel the same. But when your talking HOF and statistics you have to look at eras and Romos career falls in the passing era. When people look back and evaluate his career he will be compared too his playing peers and that means Manning, Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Eli, Rothlisberger, and to some extent Flacco, Stafford, and Ryan. Manning and Brady are shoe ins, Rodgers and Brees are well on their way, Eli and Ben have two Rings apiece, Stafford with Megatron and his abysmal defense are making statistics irrelevant, while Flacco and Ryan continue to write their stories. This is a different era than what Moon, Marino, and Fouts played in. This is the era where a 60/40 pass run split is the norm not the exception, where a 90 QB rating means slightly above average not exceptional, and 4000 yards and 20 td passes means a good but not great season. As much I hate to say it if Romo even wants to be considered for the HOF he's going to have to go on an a couple of year run that has him in the conversation of whether or not he's the best Quarterback playing right now and he'll also need some hardware to back that up. Not one of the best, but the best. He carries too much baggage and the comparisons are too great for anything less.

 

[SportsGuru80]

Listen I like Tony but he's not a Hall of Famer yet....

 

[MagicMan]

If his career was over at this time, he would definitely not be in. If he can win at least 1 SB, and even better 2 SBs, he would make it on the 2nd time. As it stands right now, no, too much negative perception and bone-headed plays that stick in the mind of the HOF voters.

 

[perrykemp]

. But when your talking HOF and statistics you have to look at eras and Romos career falls in the passing era. When people look back and evaluate his career he will be compared too his playing peers and that means Manning, Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Eli, Rothlisberger, and to some extent Flacco, Stafford, and Ryan.

Pretty much this. If Romo doesn't win a Superbowl or have a LOT of playoff success here in the future I think it's foolish to think he'll get into the HOF purely based on his high QB rating precisely for the reasons you've outlined.

A 90 QB rating used to be considered exceptional, now it is considered basically average -- especially when you guys routinely in the 100s like Manning, Brees, Brady, Rodgers and others like Matt Ryan, RG III, Rivers, Stafford, etc in the 90s as well.

 

[85Cowboy85]

I think I'm as big of a fan of Romo as anyone. I don't think the blame for our lack of playoff success should be laid at Tony's feet and I hope when enough time has passed other nfl fans and the mainstream media will look back on his career and feel the same. But when your talking HOF and statistics you have to look at eras and Romos career falls in the passing era. When people look back and evaluate his career he will be compared too his playing peers and that means Manning, Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Eli, Rothlisberger, and to some extent Flacco, Stafford, and Ryan. Manning and Brady are shoe ins, Rodgers and Brees are well on their way, Eli and Ben have two Rings apiece, Stafford with Megatron and his abysmal defense are making statistics irrelevant, while Flacco and Ryan continue to write their stories. This is a different era than what Moon, Marino, and Fouts played in. This is the era where a 60/40 pass run split is the norm not the exception, where a 90 QB rating means slightly above average not exceptional, and 4000 yards and 20 td passes means a good but not great season. As much I hate to say it if Romo even wants to be considered for the HOF he's going to have to go on an a couple of year run that has him in the conversation of whether or not he's the best Quarterback playing right now and he'll also need some hardware to back that up. Not one of the best, but the best. He carries too much baggage and the comparisons are too great for anything less.

Even when you take into account different eras his case is favorable. These are Romo's ranking's for his career compared to his peers. This takes into account the higher passing numbers during the current era.

Passer Rating 5,5,8,8,4,10
Yards Per Attempt 1,2,6,4,7,8

This is Warren Moon:

Passer Rating: 16,20,26,17,5,4,2,10,4,18,13,7,28,11,19
Yards Per Attempt: 15,11,15,8,3,5,3,8,9,14,7,13,23,9,28

Remember Moon is already in the HOF and was 3-7 in the playoffs for his entire career. Also he never advanced further then the divisional round.

 

[perrykemp]

Even when you take into account different eras his case is favorable. These are Romo's ranking's for his career compared to his peers. This takes into account the higher passing numbers during the current era.

Passer Rating 5,5,8,8,4,10
Yards Per Attempt 1,2,6,4,7,8

This is Warren Moon:

Passer Rating: 16,20,26,17,5,4,2,10,4,18,13,7,28,11,19
Yards Per Attempt: 15,11,15,8,3,5,3,8,9,14,7,13,23,9,28

Remember Moon is already in the HOF and was 3-7 in the playoffs for his entire career. Also he never advanced further then the divisional round.

I personally don't think the Warren Moon comparison is going to work.

I agree Warren Moon's stats, when viewed by themselves, don't reflect the typical HOF resume.

One of the primary reasons why Warren Moon was granted entry into the NFL Hall of Fame was the fact (in combination with a pretty good -- not great NFL career) that he was forced to spend the first part of his career (6 years) playing in the Canadian Football League because of racial attitudes in the NFL about black QBs in the late 1970s.

 

[MagicMan]

A better comparison with Romo is Kurt Warner.....also undrafted from a small college. Warner put up big numbers with the "Greatest show on turf", but did win a SB and went to 2 others in his career.....and he is eligible for HOF in 2015, will he get in on first ballot? Who knows.....but Romo needs tremendous post season success in the next several years to be where Warner is now.

 

[perrykemp]

A better comparison with Romo is Kurt Warner.....also undrafted from a small college. Warner put up big numbers with the "Greatest show on turf", but did win a SB and went to 2 others in his career.....and he is eligible for HOF in 2015, will he get in on first ballot? Who knows.....but Romo needs tremendous post season success in the next several years to be where Warner is now.

I think Warner will make the HOF -- probably on his 2nd or 3rd try.

As you said, he played in 3 Superbowls and won one of them -- pretty good credentials <despite> not playing a ton in his career.

I'm hoping Romo can make it to 3 Superbowls and win at least one of them... that will make the argument against Romo in the HOF mute.

 

[85Cowboy85]

I personally don't think the Warren Moon comparison is going to work.

I agree Warren Moon's stats, when viewed by themselves, don't reflect the typical HOF resume.

One of the primary reasons why Warren Moon was granted entry into the NFL Hall of Fame was the fact (in combination with a pretty good -- not great NFL career) that he was forced to spend the first part of his career (6 years) playing in the Canadian Football League because of racial attitudes in the NFL about black QBs in the late 1970s.

In terms of year by year rank I would say he's among the lowest in the hall yes. However Warren Moon's stats are not that unusual career wise. He was an accumulator. He finished top 5 in passing yards and passing TDs when he retired. In fact if you look at the leaders for career passing TD almost all of them are in the HOF or are going to be. Out of the top 10 the only guy who is not in the Hall or going to be is Testaverde. The obvious reason being Testaverde has very bad efficiency numbers (much worse then Moon).

If Romo plays at a similar level to his career averages over the next 4-5 years then retires, he would finish his career top 10 in passing yards, passing TD, yards per attempt and passer rating. There is no player who is top ten in all those categories who is not in the Hall of Fame. There are however players with no playoff success to speak of who are already in the hall. If his playoff woes continue he is going to have to fight against the media narrative. However I do not think you could make an intellectually consistent case for keeping him out given who is already in.

 

[Wood]

If Romo is Hall of Famer..then the Hall would lose credibility. He just hasn't even remotely proven he belongs in that group. I think he would need at min two super bowl victories.

 

[Section446]

Until he does something of significance (win a ring or two), he won't even be in the discussion.

 

[JPostSam]

he won't be judged against moon and fouts -- he'll be judged against brady, brees and both mannings. you can show statistically that he's equal to them but, without at least 1 super bowl victory, some bonehead is going to say, "i can't even put him ahead of roethlisberger."​

 

[AsthmaField]

Personally, I look at Romo's chances sort of like a boxing match at this point. It is fairly late in the fight and he hasn't done enough (playoff games) in the early rounds (seasons) for there to be much chance of him winning a decision. So, he has to have a knockout (1 or more super bowls) in one of the late rounds in order to win the fight (make the hall).

He will need to win at least 1 super bowl IMO to get serious Hall of Fame consideration. If he does win one or more, then the theory that he didn't have enough help earlier in his career to win a championship will seem valid in voters eyes, and he will have a ring(s) to go along with his compelling stats.

 

[Primetime42]

Honestly? I believe if he were to win just one Super Bowl, even if he was carried to it, it would make him a virtual lock.

But that's not the case right now, so...