Sturm: Tony Romo's Back May Explain Everything

[Idgit]

Easy, I'm typically not a fan of homers and most of the time that is what he is. Only time he does an article like this is when the evidence is just so overwhelming he just doesn't have a choice. Like the last game of the 2012 season.

Interesting. That's not how I'd describe Sturm, but, even if it were, I tend to worry less about whether or not someone's basically positive or basically negative and care more about whether or not their basically knowledgeable and able to present a logical argument. Sturm is about as good as it gets in those regards. He's great.

Just a couple? I noticed MANY games where he looked tentative and his deep balls were lacking zip and accuracy too.

Yeah, well, we know your take on Tony Romo. But, yeah, it did appear to me that there were a couple games where he was tentative. I wasn't talking specifically about the deep balls, but you're right that--casually watching, at least--they looked off all year. He hit a couple of big ones, but my impression was that he missed on several opportunities, too. More than he usually does.

 

[Tabascocat]

I think there is a good chance that both back surgeries were related, not definite, but a good chance. With that said, I question Jerry signing him to that massive extension because it occurred at about the same time as back surgery #1.

Why not wait it out one more season to see if the back wasn't going to be a concern going forward?

There is too much cloak-and-dagger to Romo and his injuries. They hardly ever come out and say it was this or that, it is a mystery to most. Just come clean and tell us what to expect!

I have a hard time believing Jerry would extend him with a major back surgery looming but who knows with this guy, he is anal and will go out of his way to prove a point.

I am a Romo fan but handing out that contract was not the way to go.......should have waited it out to see what the results were going to be. If Jerry waits then this team is in a much better position to find its next QB yet we are stuck with Tony for at least two more years, bad back or not.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

Nice analysis from Sturm as usual, but I still think that mixed in with all this was a new conservative approach directly influenced by the 19 interceptions in 2012. Too many times where it was clear that the most important thing to do was not make a mistake, even at the cost of making a legitimate effort to pick up a first.

 

[BigMac6]

I'm not sure it was directly related and I'm no doctor, but can't cysts be close the spine and be more serious than just a lump just under the skin?

Yes, they can. It depends on whether they are neurological cysts (intradural? extradural?) or not.

 

[perrykemp]

Sturm is so good. Right or wrong, he's fun to read.

Agreed. The second somebody posts a link to his articles here I read them because Sturm obviously spends a lot of time and research on the topics he covers -- as you said I may not agree with his ultimate conclusions, however, it usually is thought provoking.

 

[Idgit]

I think there is a good chance that both back surgeries were related, not definite, but a good chance. With that said, I question Jerry signing him to that massive extension because it occurred at about the same time as back surgery #1.

Why not wait it out one more season to see if the back wasn't going to be a concern going forward?

There is too much cloak-and-dagger to Romo and his injuries. They hardly ever come out and say it was this or that, it is a mystery to most. Just come clean and tell us what to expect!

I have a hard time believing Jerry would extend him with a major back surgery looming but who knows with this guy, he is anal and will go out of his way to prove a point.

I am a Romo fan but handing out that contract was not the way to go.......should have waited it out to see what the results were going to be. If Jerry waits then this team is in a much better position to find its next QB yet we are stuck with Tony for at least two more years, bad back or not.

I agree with most of this, but the fact was, we were over a massive barrel on the Romo contract. We needed to get something done in order to have any sort of offseason at all, and we obviously didn't want Romo going into FA with no compensation and no realistic option for franchising him. Hopefully, the deal was structured in a way that it doesn't cripple the team if a known back problem (it had to have been known by both parties at that point) became a chronic issue to shorten his career.

I don't think we know enough about the structure of contracts publicly to know for sure one way or another. I also think it's obvious that the team is floating BS on this front in terms of what happened, when, and how significant it is. They have to do that, for obvious reasons, but it makes guessing about what's really going on difficult.

 

[alicetooljam]

I think there is a good chance that both back surgeries were related, not definite, but a good chance. With that said, I question Jerry signing him to that massive extension because it occurred at about the same time as back surgery #1.

Why not wait it out one more season to see if the back wasn't going to be a concern going forward?

There is too much cloak-and-dagger to Romo and his injuries. They hardly ever come out and say it was this or that, it is a mystery to most. Just come clean and tell us what to expect!

I have a hard time believing Jerry would extend him with a major back surgery looming but who knows with this guy, he is anal and will go out of his way to prove a point.

I am a Romo fan but handing out that contract was not the way to go.......should have waited it out to see what the results were going to be. If Jerry waits then this team is in a much better position to find its next QB yet we are stuck with Tony for at least two more years, bad back or not.

EXACTLY, (Romo Supporter here) I wondered most of the the year if there was more to the first back injury and even leaned to thinking there mustve been. If they werent completely honest with what was released about the injury it makes the extension (at least the amount) crazy...under normal situations/ownership the fact that they did it, would make you believe the first injury WAS very minor, but with Jerry...you just never know.

 

[CashMan]

I think there is a good chance that both back surgeries were related, not definite, but a good chance. With that said, I question Jerry signing him to that massive extension because it occurred at about the same time as back surgery #1.

Why not wait it out one more season to see if the back wasn't going to be a concern going forward?

There is too much cloak-and-dagger to Romo and his injuries. They hardly ever come out and say it was this or that, it is a mystery to most. Just come clean and tell us what to expect!

I have a hard time believing Jerry would extend him with a major back surgery looming but who knows with this guy, he is anal and will go out of his way to prove a point.

I am a Romo fan but handing out that contract was not the way to go.......should have waited it out to see what the results were going to be. If Jerry waits then this team is in a much better position to find its next QB yet we are stuck with Tony for at least two more years, bad back or not.

I thought I read something to the affect(sp?). that is contract said he could not be franchised.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Wow, good thing I read this. I was beginning to believe Romo threw those passes that cost the Denver and GB games because he does that. Nice to see it was a bad back that caused him to throw the ball into double coverage and to the other team.

You people are amazing here.

 

[alicetooljam]

Wow, good thing I read this. I was beginning to believe Romo threw those passes that cost the Denver and GB games because he does that. Nice to see it was a bad back that caused him to throw the ball into double coverage and to the other team.

You people are amazing here.

Not what I thought the article or anything I said inferred at all...

 

[Idgit]

Wow, good thing I read this. I was beginning to believe Romo threw those passes that cost the Denver and GB games because he does that. Nice to see it was a bad back that caused him to throw the ball into double coverage and to the other team.

You people are amazing here.

Wut???

 

[Tabascocat]

I thought I read something to the affect(sp?). that is contract said he could not be franchised.

Not sure if that is true or not but he did have one more year left before Jerry had to make a decision to extend or go another direction.

 

[big dog cowboy]

That said, there were a couple games this year where I do remember thinking Tony looked tentative.

Absulutely agree. I pointed this out as the season went along. Romo didn't look 100%.After he retires maybe we will read about it in his book.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Romo will be missed once he's gone. Everyone wants to compare him to this other "elite" QB's. When people decide to do this, consider the fact that whoever you're comparing him to was drafted. That, in itself should say enough about him.

I guess I don't agree with that. The minute you decide to invest in him like we did, the whole where he came from, where he was drafted thing goes out the window for me. I don't care anymore. I care about what the team gets in return because I already know that what we have committed is more then just substantial. It's crippling if it doesn't pay off.

 

[percyhoward]

Looking back before the 15th game in Washington, there's not a lot to talk about. Yards per attempt means very little without touchdowns and interceptions factored in. I'll take #4 in the NFL in points per drive, and #7 in pass rating any time. If the defense had matched those numbers, we'd have finished somewhere around 12-4.

The thing with this new injury is, will it prevent the above from happening again?

 

[cowboys1981]

A couple thoughts:

I didn't know, in order to be considered elite, you needed to be drafted. Brady was drafted in the 6th rd, and is elite. I think when you get passed over, it lights a fire in the individual. Romo sat a few years before he started, so did Steve McNair, and he was taken pretty high in the draft.

You get thrown into debate, when you flash ability and are not consistent. In big games, Tony Romo fails. Also, when you are handed elite money, expectations are magnified. Romo was also handed big money, then mysteriously a surgery needs to be done to his back, then magically is an issue at the end of the season as well. Too many questions with Romo, and not enough answers.

Once Romo is gone, will he be missed, yes. Was/is he a good QB, yes. Was/he is a great QB, no. Let us not forget the crap that we had to watch, from Aikman to Romo. If you were to ask people, if you do not want Romo, then who would be the QB? I do not think anyone know, since Jerry does not know how to groom a replacement. He lucked into Romo.

Brady was drafted and Romo wasn't. If being an undrafted free agent were to light a fire then we'd see more of them on the field having an impact that Romo has. This team has failed in those big games. That wasn't just Romo.

 

[ufcrules1]

Looking back before the 15th game in Washington, there's not a lot to talk about. Yards per attempt means very little without touchdowns and interceptions factored in. I'll take #4 in the NFL in points per drive, and #7 in pass rating any time. If the defense had matched those numbers, we'd have finished somewhere around 12-4.

The thing with this new injury is, will it prevent the above from happening again?

When the Titanic was sinking, some people were actually playing violins and just couldn't believe what was happening.

 

[HappyOnions]

A couple thoughts:

I didn't know, in order to be considered elite, you needed to be drafted. Brady was drafted in the 6th rd, and is elite. I think when you get passed over, it lights a fire in the individual. Romo sat a few years before he started, so did Steve McNair, and he was taken pretty high in the draft.

You get thrown into debate, when you flash ability and are not consistent. In big games, Tony Romo fails. Also, when you are handed elite money, expectations are magnified. Romo was also handed big money, then mysteriously a surgery needs to be done to his back, then magically is an issue at the end of the season as well. Too many questions with Romo, and not enough answers.

Once Romo is gone, will he be missed, yes. Was/is he a good QB, yes. Was/he is a great QB, no. Let us not forget the crap that we had to watch, from Aikman to Romo. If you were to ask people, if you do not want Romo, then who would be the QB? I do not think anyone know, since Jerry does not know how to groom a replacement. He lucked into Romo.

I agree...While it's admirable that he went from undrafted to one of the better QBs in the league, it should not mean that "well, he exceeded expectations so that's good enough". Kurt Warner went undrafted and went to three super bowls, winning one. If I'm right, he's the only starting quarterback to take 2 different teams to the Super Bowl. Romo has done well for himself and that's great, but it isn't enough.

 

[mrmojo]

I agree...While it's admirable that he went from undrafted to one of the better QBs in the league, it should not mean that "well, he exceeded expectations so that's good enough". Kurt Warner went undrafted and went to three super bowls, winning one. If I'm right, he's the only starting quarterback to take 2 different teams to the Super Bowl. Romo has done well for himself and that's great, but it isn't enough.

Craig Morton started for both Dallas and Denver in SB.

 

[Section446]

I've been saying all year that something doesn't seem right with him. The attributes that make him elite (at times) just weren't there this year. Hopefully with surgery, and a full off-season to recover, he can get back to normal.