Video: Star Crossed: The Carter-Romo Story

[PJTHEDOORS]

I remember Keyshawn Johnson saying Romo was terrible in practices and he was about to get cut. He said he would throw the ball anywhere and was being careless with the football. Funny how Darren Woodson had a different opinion. I'm sure Keyshawn was in Parcells ear at the time so I believe him if he said Tony was about to get cut. Plus they had just signed Vinny Testaverde so I'm assuming the depth chart at the time before Quincy's failed drug test was.

1 Quincy Carter
2 Vinny Testaverde
3 Drew Henson
4 Tony Romo

I remember watching Romo in the preseason games. He played well most of the time. Can never remember a time when Henson did anything.

 

[cej757]

Didn't Jerry sign Tony Banks to be the starter but Banks was so bad in preseason he decided to throw Quincy in the fire. Maybe Quincy needed to sit a few years like Tony did?

 

[Plankton]

I remember when the Quincy Carter selection was announced, I was in shock staring open mouthed at the TV.

But at least there was a huge need at QB.

I was even more crushed when the Carter selection was followed a few picks later in round two by the selection of Alabama safety Tony Dixon.

That really had me reeling.

That was as mad as I've become watching the draft. Passing on Jason Witten in round two in 2003 for C Al Johnson is a close second.

I know OL > TE, but I couldn't believe Wit was still on the board.

How the Vol lasted until our pick in round three I will never know.

I do remember hearing after the fact that San Francisco called while we were on the clock about to select Witten wanting to trade into our spot.

Their target? Witten, of course.

You think it was bad watching it on TV, imagine being at the draft and hearing the Carter and Dixon picks.

I probably dropped more curses in a half hour span than I ever had in my life. All while being laughed at by Giant fans.

 

[Plankton]

I was saying last year that Bridgewater was gonna be the best QB we'd have a chance at grabbing in a while. We drafted Martin instead. You can't complain about drafting the most NFL ready interior OL in the draft who ended up being a rookie All Pro and solidifying the offense. But you have to admit that taking Martin over Bridgewater was rolling the dice on Romo. And this was coming off an off-season where Romo's future was really in question. I think it'll pay off and I'm glad we're doing all that we can to win one in the Romo era. But I don't see us having a chance at another Bridgewater.

I think taking Martin was taking the best player on the draft board. I can never fault a team for doing that.

 

[KJJ]

Didn't Jerry sign Tony Banks to be the starter but Banks was so bad in preseason he decided to throw Quincy in the fire. Maybe Quincy needed to sit a few years like Tony did?

Jerry wanting an experienced starter signed Banks but he didn't look very committed seemed more interested in moving into a new house. Carter had an impressive preseason game against the Raiders and Jerry decided to dump Banks and go with Carter.

 

[Bluefin]

I remember the Tony Dixon selection too. Cowboys got a lot of heat for taking him. I think he was rated around the 5th or 6th round at the time.

Yeah.

For all the crap about taking Quincy Carter, I had read on the Sporting News the day before the draft speculation he was moving into the second round.

I didn't think Dallas would pull the trigger, but at least I heard something about Carter going in round two.

Tony Dixon wasn't even on the radar, I thought he was a day three guy that would play special teams.

 

[KJJ]

To elaborate a little more on the Tony Banks situation there were negative reports floating around about his work ethic. He reportedly requested to miss a practice to take care of some family matters which included moving into a new house. That supposedly irked Jerry then Carter had the impressive game against the Raiders in preseason in which he threw 2 TD passes. The next thing we heard was that Banks was released and Carter was named the starter.

 

[StylisticS]

I think I remember in 2003 when BP first came to Dallas and in the studio, I overheard that Terry Bradshaw thought that none of Dallas QB's including Romo weren't any good. This was either in a preseason game or the first game of the season when we lost to Atlanta.

 

[Tenkamenin]

Carter was better than some fans give him credit for. I still remember some plays that he and Antonio Bryant hooked up on for td's.

Yup, the game winner against the Panthers was special.

 

[lostar2009]

The story completely glossed over the fact that Bruce Coslet didn't like Quincy Carter and wanted Chad Hutchinson to be the starting quarterback.

Coslet went so far as to start Hutch in the pre-season dress rehearsal instead of Carter and even lied afterwords about always doing that with his #2 QB.

Carter wasn't mentally tough enough to handle the situation and, as it turned out, being a NFL QB long term

Yeah they did do Carter kind of bad. I guess this is a reason why JJ has not drafted a legit qb behind Romo. He don't want Romo thinking about too much. I think Quincy had a shot of they really tried to put a support system there and try to help him. But it doesn't matter if Quincy does not put in the effort.

 

[cej757]

Yeah they did do Carter kind of bad. I guess this is a reason why JJ has not drafted a legit qb behind Romo. He don't want Romo thinking about too much. I think Quincy had a shot of they really tried to put a support system there and try to help him. But it doesn't matter if Quincy does not put in the effort.

Romo admitted he was tuned into the draft the year Brady Quinn was sliding down the board and he thought Jerry might draft him. Jerry always made it safe for Romo and always put older veterans to back him up that weren't any threats. His only real backup that may have pushed him was Kyle Orton and it looks like they didn't really care for each other.

 

[cej757]

I think I remember in 2003 when BP first came to Dallas and in the studio, I overheard that Terry Bradshaw thought that none of Dallas QB's including Romo weren't any good. This was either in a preseason game or the first game of the season when we lost to Atlanta.

I still remember on Talking Cowboys how Mickey Spagnola ripped every fan that wanted Romo to replace Bledsoe. He said if you replace Bledsoe for Romo you're basically giving up on the season and you're telling all the players on the team you're throwing up the white flag because Bledsoe gave them the best chance to win.

Mickey didn't think much of Romo either because he wasn't a first rd pick. I hope he's not in this video Pom Pom waving for Romo because he was definitely in the Bledsoe camp.

 

[cowboyuptx]

Is there a 4th video?

Damn I love me some Tony Romo.

Hell yeah! I freaking love Tony! The dude is so genuinely humble, and it's so refreshing... I'm not sure i agree with Parcells' decision not to start Tony sooner, perhaps even as a rookie... They say he "wouldn't have survived it", but I disagree, you cant keep a Jedi down for long...

 

[windward]

The coaching staff made light of the team's unpreparedness for Troy's premature retirement. Troy's backups were Randall Cunningham, Clint Stoerner, and Anthony Wright.

Fast forward to now ... we're in the same exact situation. Weeden is Cunningham. Vaughn is Stoerner. Showers is Wright.

Quite eerie if you ask me.

Weeden is Cunningham might be a bit of a stretch for me.

 

[Plankton]

I still remember on Talking Cowboys how Mickey Spagnola ripped every fan that wanted Romo to replace Bledsoe. He said if you replace Bledsoe for Romo you're basically giving up on the season and you're telling all the players on the team you're throwing up the white flag because Bledsoe gave them the best chance to win.

Mickey didn't think much of Romo either because he wasn't a first rd pick. I hope he's not in this video Pom Pom waving for Romo because he was definitely in the Bledsoe camp.

It's another case of Mickey carrying Jerry Jones' water.

When Bledsoe was benched for Romo, Jones said after the game that he thought that Bledsoe gave the team the best chance to win and have success. Mickey was doing what he does best - spout the company (re: Jones') line.

 

[FLCowboyFan]

I hate to say it because Carter has gone through a great deal but he was a weak person and couldn't handle the limelight that being a Cowboy QB brings. The fact that he went to play football because it was cold in Chicago tells you something about his fortitude. Romo on the other hand just kept focused on getting better each and every day. I remember the day they sent QC home from camp and BP said how much he had invested in him and how disappointed he was. Thank goodness we got Romo. We would have continued to have bad years without him.

I do agree that it feels we are in the exact same position now. This is the year that they have to get a young guy who can learn for 2-3 years and replace him when he retires.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I remember watching Romo in the preseason games. He played well most of the time. Can never remember a time when Henson did anything.

There was a scrimmage that Ron Wolfe watched and the entire press, including Wolfe, were raving about Henson. I can't remember what exactly Wolfe said, but it was along the lines 'you've found yourself a Quarterback.'

Parcells was reserved about it, but he was always reserved in his praise so most people thought Wolfe was onto something.

I remember Henson looking pretty good in another preseason game after that, but then didn't look good again. And it seemed obvious to me, looking back, that by the Thanksgiving game Parcells pretty much knew Henson didn't have it and was looking to see if Henson could do something, anything, to change his mind.

Romo was getting good reports at the time. I remember Payton wanted him to start over Quincy *that* season. I remember Peter King saying something a couple of years later that Romo would do little things that would really impress him and would really think on his feet.

I was a hardcore draftnik at the time and Romo not being drafted surprised me. The general grade on his was in the 6th round, but I read some things that had him possibly being picked in the 4th round. I'm always interested in small school QB's because QB's that have played for major programs usually aren't worth anything if they don't have a legit 1st or 2nd round grade on them. So I was stunned that Romo didn't get drafted because the projection was a pretty firm 6th round pick and I was happy the Cowboys picked him up.





YR

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I hate to say it because Carter has gone through a great deal but he was a weak person and couldn't handle the limelight that being a Cowboy QB brings. The fact that he went to play football because it was cold in Chicago tells you something about his fortitude. Romo on the other hand just kept focused on getting better each and every day. I remember the day they sent QC home from camp and BP said how much he had invested in him and how disappointed he was. Thank goodness we got Romo. We would have continued to have bad years without him.

I do agree that it feels we are in the exact same position now. This is the year that they have to get a young guy who can learn for 2-3 years and replace him when he retires.

I agree. He just couldn't handle challenges.

I was living in Atlanta at the time that QC was at UGA. He lived a sheltered and over-protected life. He was sorta coddled although still living in a rough neighborhood. And when he had to have the maturity and toughness to carve a name out for himself by himself and deal with the rigors and failures and use them as learning experiences and motivation, he just wasn't mentally prepared for it at all.

I was looking at QC's high school team when they went to states. 2 Olympians (in the hurdles), Cosey Coleman (former NFL guard) and Rodney Williams (former NFL punter). Team was stacked.




YR

 

[yesfan]

Really enjoyed watching.When to we get to see the others. Thank you for posting.

 

[DallasInDC]

Jerry's problem was he got success too fast, not that what happened was a bad thing since three Super Bowls were the end result. Not that he's dumb, meddling, or arrogant. He just had misconceptions that unfortunately lasted a little too long.

This is so true. Failures are some of the biggest opportunities one has to learn and improve. Early success masks mistakes and deprives you of having to deal with/overcome various situations and challenges. The early success that Jerry had as an owner, not mention the changing landscape as a result of the new CBA and free agency, left the new owner behind the ball when it came to effective management of an NFL team. It has taken JJ a while and a lot of on the job learning, but it is evident that he has learned through it all and has become more effective. On the other hand, take a look at what is going on in Washington and you can see an owner who is still struggling on how to get it right. I won't fault JJ for running his business his way (regardless of all the fans who think they could do it better). It's easy to manage in hindsight (e.g. fans saying he needed to get real football people to do the job....if it were just that easy, every team would be competing for SBs year in and year out and not just the 5 or 6 that are doing it perennially).