DMN Blog: Tony Romo's take on leadership

[Alexander]

Tony Romo's take on leadership
11:20 PM Sun, Feb 08, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips
Ch. 11's Babe Laufenberg asked Tony Romo whether the framework was in place for a leader (or leaders) to emerge at Valley Ranch.

"Oh, yeah. No question," Romo said. "What are you referring to, Jerry?"

Babe replied by pointing out that it certainly didn't seem like anybody stepped to the forefront last season.

"We didn't win," Romo answered. "It's simple. It's kind of dumb."

Babe said that when a team isn't winning, that's when a guy ...

"Does what?" Romo interrupted. "Yells at everybody and then you win?"

Then Romo delivered a lectured on leadership.

"You wanna know why Michael Jordan was a great leader? He won six NBA championships. Then, all of a sudden, when he gets in people's faces, he's a great leader.

"A great leader is someone who wins, and you figure out how to win. Some people, it's getting in people's faces. Some people, it's being positive. Other people, it's walking the line and doing it the right way. And that guy shows everybody else, because they see him doing it, and they figure out, 'I'm going to walk in that line, too, and do it.'

"You know, there's many different ways to do it. I think people who sit there and say they need to see leadership, well, they're kidding themselves. Because if you need to see someone be a leader, they're probably not a leader all the time.

"You can look back and say, 'Oh, we should have done talking more.' ... I don't know that ... When somebody talks to me, it does nothing as far as, OK, thank you. Just leave me alone for a second. I need to think about what I need to do to improve on the next play. Or give me some technical aspect that you can use. 'Listen, when the corner is sitting down doing this, you need to ....' That stuff will help you the next time you're out there.

"Saying, 'C'mon! Let's go! Get ready! C'mon! Do better!' ... OK, I will. (rolls eyes) It doesn't solve anything.

"I mean, we're not 18 or 17. We don't need to be motivated to play harder in that regard. I think you take the wrong gap or you do the wrong thing, in that regard, that's gonna hurt you. And it will look like you're not playing as hard, but the reality is you just went the wrong way or you did the wrong thing or you threw the wrong pass, whatever.

"I think that execution, if there's a way to execute better, then you need to lead in that regard. You need to figure out a way to help everybody execute better. But it's silly to me to think that someone telling you in your face, 'Do better next time' is going to make you do better next time. Tell me why. Show somebody what they need to do to do better next time. That will go a lot farther, I think."

 

[Temo]

I love Romo so much more right now.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

I had read that last night and maybe i am just sleepy this morning but it all kindof jumbles together in my head. I think not only do the Cowboy lack leaders...but the Cowboy lack RESPECT for leaders, hence his comments. He waved off Phillips on the 4th down play against Philly...that shows a lack of respect for leadership. Then throwing Garrett under the bus...lack of respect for leadership. If you have a Head Coach that commands respect and is a leader, then you don’t need alot of players doing it. I mean everything he said does have some merit, but some of it doesn’t. How does anything he said make you believe things will change next season? He said once they win, THEN they will be leaders...i don’t know, sounds like alot of fluff.

 

[skicat1898]

Ok,,,,, Romo said all the right things about leadership, unfortunately nobody on the team exhibited these qualities this past season... Poor execution and no accountability is what we seen accross the board...

What Romo does not understand, a leader posesses all those qualities and knows when and how to use them.

 

[Rack]

Can't say I agree with everything he said.


You need different kinds of leaders, but you need the VOCAL leaders for the types of games we played in december.


And Michael Jordan was a great leader even BEFORE he won his championships.

 

[iceberg]

I love Romo so much more right now.

words are meaningless.

his actions confuse me in this regard.

for example, i think it was the baltimore game when witten caught a td and came out limping with the team all around him in celebration.

except for romo. he was off on the sidelines chillin.

we hear all the time how the WRs are not running the right routes or they're not on the same page. normally when this is happening i see the qb coming to the wr's and going over what is wrong and how to correct it during the game.

romo is sitting on the bench waiting for lord knows what.

when we lose a heartbreaker, he says his life is fine and this isnt that bad. words, sure. but bad words at the time most fans were hurting.

romo seems to know what to say but not what to do.

 

[Alexander]

Can't say I agree with everything he said.


You need different kinds of leaders, but you need the VOCAL leaders for the types of games we played in december.


And Michael Jordan was a great leader even BEFORE he won his championships.

That's true.

And I think the QB is different than any other position on the field.

It is not just me that thinks that. The greatest Cowboy leader of our generation, Michael Irvin, has stated as such.

The QB has to be the man. The unquestioned leader of the team who everyone answers to if they fail.

 

[superpunk]

That's true.

And I think the QB is different than any other position on the field.

It is not just me that thinks that. The greatest Cowboy leader of our generation, Michael Irvin, has stated as such.

The QB has to be the man. The unquestioned leader of the team who everyone answers to if they fail.

On offense, yeah.

Defensive players don't really give two spits about the QB. All they care is that he doesn't turn the ball over and put them in bad situations.

The unquestioned leader of the team who everyone answers to if they fail NEEDS to be the head coach. Troy Aikman might have been that leader you're referring to when he had Jimmy backing him up, but when Barry came to town by all accounts Troy mostly just sulked, brooded, and complained to people in the press about how lax Barry was.

And now we have Barry 2.0 - this time, it's family.

 

[notherbob]

This team is a reflection of its leadership and it has no leadership. Just a bunch of glittering, glamorous, glitzy, glorious, egocentric, selfish losers. Yeah, there are al few winners on the team but they are smothered under by the loud mouthed losers.

It's Jerry's problem and he's not going to solve it because he doesn't see it as a problem. That's not my problem.

Actually, it's fun to watch the Cowboys if you love humor; of course, it's not much fun to watch them if you love to watch a football team that is serious about winning.

 

[skicat1898]

Good QBs are often referred to as "Field Generals",, I have not seen that quality in Romo....

I do not think he can come close to that with TO on the team.

Giants had to rid themselves of Shockey and Tiki had to retire before Eli even had a shot at it.

 

[Apollo Creed]

He hangs his head and pouts after he plays poorly and is jumping around high fiving refs when things are good, farthest thing from a leader I've ever seen.

 

[Stash]

That's true.

And I think the QB is different than any other position on the field.

It is not just me that thinks that. The greatest Cowboy leader of our generation, Michael Irvin, has stated as such.

The QB has to be the man. The unquestioned leader of the team who everyone answers to if they fail.

I agree.

And I think this is the point that Romo still doesn't get.

He wants to just be one of the guys and as the quarterback he can't.

The quarterback has to lead the offense and in most cases, the team.

I believe that part of a quarterback's job is to enfore accountibility - in both himself and his teammates.

But Romo runs from this part of his job description.

And that makes me question whether he has everything it takes to be a winner.

 

[wileedog]

words are meaningless.

his actions confuse me in this regard.

for example, i think it was the baltimore game when witten caught a td and came out limping with the team all around him in celebration.

except for romo. he was off on the sidelines chillin.

we hear all the time how the WRs are not running the right routes or they're not on the same page. normally when this is happening i see the qb coming to the wr's and going over what is wrong and how to correct it during the game.

romo is sitting on the bench waiting for lord knows what.

when we lose a heartbreaker, he says his life is fine and this isnt that bad. words, sure. but bad words at the time most fans were hurting.

romo seems to know what to say but not what to do.

Which was very different from last year too. Last season he was the first guy in the endzone congratulating receivers. Not to mention things like mocking refs, etc. I remember some saying he drew his leadership qualities through his enthusiasm for the game, al la Favre.

This year you're right he just seemed to mope off to the sideline. Not to open a can of worms, but wonder if its a Jessica thing? That's the only thing that's really changed.

 

[Alexander]

On offense, yeah.

Defensive players don't really give two spits about the QB. All they care is that he doesn't turn the ball over and put them in bad situations.

Offense is where we have the problems with leadership.

We also had it on defense too. I think Phillips was able to assume that and if you noticed, the results changed as well. He dictated the pace and held people accountable, not Greg Ellis, not Bradie James and not Demarcus Ware. In the absence of a Ray Lewis, it has to come from somewhere.

The offense has to have that, no question in my mind. Great teams have that one alpha male. And it is usually the QB.

The unquestioned leader of the team who everyone answers to if they fail NEEDS to be the head coach. Troy Aikman might have been that leader you're referring to when he had Jimmy backing him up, but when Barry came to town by all accounts Troy mostly just sulked, brooded, and complained to people in the press about how lax Barry was.

And now we have Barry 2.0 - this time, it's family.

Then it shows that Romo does not get it yet. He needs to get it.

The environment right now in Dallas is that the head coach will never have the true clout he needs. Not with Jerry Jones providing an avenue to do a run around on the head coach. Jimmy Johnson had the players' attention. They never felt they could do a run around on him and go to Jones. Once Jerry Jones donned the head coach cap he still wears right now, it all changed. If I screw up, I can always go run to Uncle Jerry who will ruffle my hair and tell me he'll look into it. Especially when he has something invested in me monatarily.

 

[Ichill2]

Before Romo trys to guess at what he thinks made Michael JOrdan a leader why don't he call Mike up to find out how a winner thinks! Don't guess call him up! Call Aikman and find out you should have kept your TAIL at home before a huge playoff game lasy year against the Giants! The worst thing Dallas need is your QB who doesn't care about winning and losing. Romo is not a leader but another guy in the lockeroom but I can't wait until his failed term is up! Romo is a gutless coward. You are the QB you are suppose to lead the team! This guy don't want anyone telling him what he needs to do to be successful but will try and use his thoughts on what made MJ a leader..Open you stupid ears up and listen to a guy whose won.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I agree.

And I think this is the point that Romo still doesn't get.

He wants to just be one of the guys and as the quarterback he can't.

The quarterback has to lead the offense and in most cases, the team.

I believe that part of a quarterback's job is to enfore accountibility - in both himself and his teammates.

But Romo runs from this part of his job description.

And that makes me question whether he has everything it takes to be a winner.

I agree with all that. The alternating "too cool for school" and then moping attitude has always bugged me about Romo.

I think he's 100% correct about the "in your face" stuff being horribly overrated, though. I still can't understand why people think that's so great.

The offense has to have that, no question in my mind. Great teams have that one alpha male. And it is usually the QB.

I don't want to get the banjo player started, but I think a problem with that is the guy we have at WR. He's the alpha male -- and if he thinks he isn't, he'll work to re-assert himself as one. And he's proven that if you challenge that, you get nothing but more problems. So I'd like to see if things would any different with him gone. I think there's a fair chance they would be.

 

[Alexander]

He hangs his head and pouts after he plays poorly and is jumping around high fiving refs when things are good, farthest thing from a leader I've ever seen.

It is no wonder he keeps being compared to Favre. He's the same.

Favre was only effective when he had a mentor and a coach who was on him constantly and that was with Holmgren. Check his track record since then. It was just like Romo. Statistically great, but when he was awful, the team went right down with him because he was just another one of the guys in the locker room, snapping someone on the butt with a towel and lighting his own farts.

 

[superpunk]

I agree, Alex, but if Tony Romo tries to assert himself on offense to everyone on offense then he knows that ILOVEMESOMEME will lose his freaking mind and it will be a massive **** storm.

It can't happen while T.O. is sucking the life out of the offense, and in the ear of young impressionable players.

T.O. will always be the leader on any team he's on because he is like a sacred cow that must be appeased constantly or else he goes bananas. I think Romo does what he says to a great extent, giving technical tips and discussing things that way...once T.O. is gone we may see him getting in people's ***** a little bit more.

 

[skicat1898]

Besides Jessica, the other thing that is different from last year,,$67 million dollar contract...

Fans all the time talk about how players get their money and then their play drops off....

Tony's play really hasn't changed,,, he has always been a turnover waiting to happen and he has his big stat games against teams who's defenses are not truely playoff caliber.

 

[rcaldw]

One thing I've noticed in all realms of life is how people who lack certain things minimize the importance of what they don't have. If they were to acknowledge that they lack something that is necessary to success, then they would either have to find something else to do, or change. I don't think Tony wants to change, and I know that he isn't through playing football, so the best way for him to deal with his lack of leadership ability is to mock the concept altogether.

He is right in that leadership manifests itself differently in different people. Tony Dungy, Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi were all leaders, but all different in how it manifested itself. But one thing that is true about leaders is that other people recognize that quality in them. You know it when you see it. You also know it when it is absent. And when it is absent it won't do any good to try to say it isn't necessary.