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10:18 AM Wed, Jul 29, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon/Blogger Bio | E-mail | News tips
Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips went on and on yesterday about Tony Romo's leadership ability, which has been a subject of debate since his post-Philly Flop press conference that was almost as big of a disaster as the Cowboys' season finale.
Jerry and Wade avoided adding fuel to the theory that it'll be a lot easier for Romo to lead now that T.O.'s not running his mouth in the Cowboys' locker room. They cited two primary reasons they believe Romo can be an effective leader: 1) His work ethic serves as an example (despite whispers last season by some disgruntled teammates who weren't willing to put their name behind their comments); 2) He's established himself as a legitimate starting quarterback.
"It's harder to be a leader when you're a free agent than it is when you're an established quarterback," Phillips said. "And now he's made this path, he's gone further and further each year, and with that experience and know-how and those kind of things I think that helps his leadership grow."
One problem with the second point: Romo was well established as a quarterback before last season, when he was coming off consecutive Pro Bowl berths. But there's no question that it'll be a lot easier for him to be a leader if his QB rating is in the triple-digit range.
As far as work ethic goes, Romo's golfing and girlfriend(s) get a lot of attention, but he's always been a guy who spends as much off-season time as any of his teammates working on his craft at Valley Ranch.
"I was around John Elway and he was similar in that he was at every workout during the off-season," Phillips said. "The rest of the players look at that, and if you have anybody slacking off during the off-season you can go to them and say, 'Look, Tony Romo is out there working; you need to be working.'"
The next step for Romo is to become more vocal. That doesn't necessarily mean he has to morph into a rah-rah guy, which isn't going to happen. But he has to know when and how to challenge his teammates, when to give a guy a pat on the back or bit of encouragement, when he needs to address the offense or entire team (his silence in the team meeting about the T.O./Romo/Witten pass-triangle drama was alarming).
And he needs to be more vocal with the coaching staff, too. For example, it'd probably be a good idea if he voiced his beefs about the game plan or protection schemes to Jason Garrett in a Valley Ranch meeting room instead of airing them to the world after the fact, as he did in Philadelphia. Sounds like Jerry made that point during Romo-friendly chats this off-season.
"My conversations with him have been more about making sure that he articulates to the staff and to coach and everybody involved that he really gives them the input that helps him be the best he can be, make the plays he s most comfortable with, doing those kinds of things," Jerry said. "Not that he's ever had any problems doing it, but I just said, 'Look let's don't hold anything back here in comments you might have relative to your coaching staff.'"
Tim MacMahon/Blogger Bio | E-mail | News tips
Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips went on and on yesterday about Tony Romo's leadership ability, which has been a subject of debate since his post-Philly Flop press conference that was almost as big of a disaster as the Cowboys' season finale.
Jerry and Wade avoided adding fuel to the theory that it'll be a lot easier for Romo to lead now that T.O.'s not running his mouth in the Cowboys' locker room. They cited two primary reasons they believe Romo can be an effective leader: 1) His work ethic serves as an example (despite whispers last season by some disgruntled teammates who weren't willing to put their name behind their comments); 2) He's established himself as a legitimate starting quarterback.
"It's harder to be a leader when you're a free agent than it is when you're an established quarterback," Phillips said. "And now he's made this path, he's gone further and further each year, and with that experience and know-how and those kind of things I think that helps his leadership grow."
One problem with the second point: Romo was well established as a quarterback before last season, when he was coming off consecutive Pro Bowl berths. But there's no question that it'll be a lot easier for him to be a leader if his QB rating is in the triple-digit range.
As far as work ethic goes, Romo's golfing and girlfriend(s) get a lot of attention, but he's always been a guy who spends as much off-season time as any of his teammates working on his craft at Valley Ranch.
"I was around John Elway and he was similar in that he was at every workout during the off-season," Phillips said. "The rest of the players look at that, and if you have anybody slacking off during the off-season you can go to them and say, 'Look, Tony Romo is out there working; you need to be working.'"
The next step for Romo is to become more vocal. That doesn't necessarily mean he has to morph into a rah-rah guy, which isn't going to happen. But he has to know when and how to challenge his teammates, when to give a guy a pat on the back or bit of encouragement, when he needs to address the offense or entire team (his silence in the team meeting about the T.O./Romo/Witten pass-triangle drama was alarming).
And he needs to be more vocal with the coaching staff, too. For example, it'd probably be a good idea if he voiced his beefs about the game plan or protection schemes to Jason Garrett in a Valley Ranch meeting room instead of airing them to the world after the fact, as he did in Philadelphia. Sounds like Jerry made that point during Romo-friendly chats this off-season.
"My conversations with him have been more about making sure that he articulates to the staff and to coach and everybody involved that he really gives them the input that helps him be the best he can be, make the plays he s most comfortable with, doing those kinds of things," Jerry said. "Not that he's ever had any problems doing it, but I just said, 'Look let's don't hold anything back here in comments you might have relative to your coaching staff.'"
Got it. 
