Hostile
The Duke
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This was posted in the Daily Zone back in March. I think a lot of folks missed it. I think it is telling to hear Tony's comments that upset so many people when taken in context. So I am posting it again.
Original Thread
Patching Old Wounds
Spagnola: Time For The Rest Of the Romo Story
Mickey Spagnola
March 12, 2009 5:33 PM
IRVING, Texas - This has been bugging me for a while, and thought the whole ordeal had died down since that late Dec. 28 afternoon in Philadelphia, so figured, man, just let it go.
But it hasn't gone away. Keeps coming up and up and up.
So time to get this off my chest.
Look, Tony Romo got sound-bit, if you will, following that dreadful 44-6 loss to the Eagles that Sunday at The Linc. Occupational hazard, I suppose, especially when you are the quarterback and expected to speak no matter what after every game. Even if some cartilage that is supposed to remain between your ribs is now poking out your rib cage from the pounding you just got done taking, the pain so bad you were knocked to the floor in the shower by it just 15 minutes earlier.
But there he was, up on this riser in the interview room answering questions for the better part of, oh, I'd say like 10, 15 minutes, and in fact longer than he was supposed to, because when you go back to listen to the interview session, Cowboys public relations director Rich Dalrymple can he heard in the background, first saying, "Two more questions," then telling Romo, "That's it, gotta go," and then telling him, "Come on Tony, the (equipment) truck is about to leave, we got to get on the bus."
In fact, they were taking down the logo backdrop as Romo was saying, "That's OK, I'll answer a few more." Maybe he answered too many because when it comes to our profession here in the media, we can't use all the sound bites and we can't print out all the quotes. You know the game, pick and choose.
Only the juiciest, without a doubt.
And this particular one, in its raw form, without having heard all his preceding answers or without the preceding question, PO-ed the heck out of all you guys:
"I've had a lot worse happen to me than a loss in a sporting event, that's for sure, and if this is the worse thing to happen to be, then I've lived a pretty good life."
OMG, you would have thought Romo had just killed the neighbor's dog. Oh the rage, the indignation this created. How could he say such a thing? How could he so casually pass off the loss? How could he be so flippantly indifferent?
How this changed so many opinions of the kid who captured so many hearts with his plight, coming out of a Division I-AA school undrafted and sitting for three years in relative anonymity before exploding onto the scene in 2006 to earn a Pro Bowl nod in just his first 10 starts and then rewriting the Cowboys passing record book his first full season starting. I mean causing utter dislike.
Still.
Now Romo is a big boy, and he certainly doesn't need me defending him, or I'm guessing in some of your opinions, making excuses for him. But darn it, what's right is right, and in memory of the great Paul Harvey, you should just know the rest of the story.
You should know that at the very start of the press conference when Romo was asked, "How surprised are you, you missed the playoffs?" his answer was exactly what you wanted to hear:
"It's disappointing. Obviously you start out the season for one goal and every team but one obviously feels they didn't have a great season and we're part of that group."
When he was asked, "What do you find most disturbing losing a game like this, the stakes being what they were and not playing well enough (to prevent) getting beat by 38?" he again manned up:
"Like I said, it's frustrating. It's disappointing, you know. Obviously it doesn't feel good. We obviously had hoped to play a lot better than we did."
And when handed a little break, being asked, "Can you talk about what happened at the end (the injury)?" he didn't use his podium for excuse-making:
"Ah, it's just . . . um, I just got a little banged up I guess."
I'll say a little. He was having problems breathing, and needed assistance from two PR department folks to get down off the riser. He braced his hands on each of their shoulders, took a deep breath to help absorb the pain, and then stepped down in anguish.
Made me hurt to watch.
Did you guys realize that had the Cowboys somehow won in Philadelphia, Romo wasn't playing that first-round playoff game? In fact, he didn't manage to throw a football again until the end of January.
Anyway, just thought you guys should know all that.
And you definitely should know the questions Romo was asked to solicit his perceived blasphemous response that a caller on a talk-radio show this morning said caused him to go from being a big Tony Romo fan to a hater now.
First this:
Hey Tony, you won a lot of games in your career, but the way this season ends and the previous two seasons and the rap that you can't win the big one or late in the season, how do you get over that?
Again, occupational hazard, and why I keep telling you the quarterbacks make the big bucks. Because I'm guessing no one asked Marion Barber that. No one asked Terrell Owens that. No one asked DeMarcus Ware that. No one asked Bradie James that. And they all were part of the previous two playoff losses, and they were all part of the team's struggles down the stretches those three seasons.
So I'm guessing the question sort of irritated Romo, and he tries to parry the little shot by saying, "I wake up tomorrow and keep living," which drew a few chuckles but no smiles from him, and continued with, "I mean, you don't - it's a fun game. It's enjoyable and we're going to try and win next year. We're going to try and get back in the playoffs and we're going to try and win a Super Bowl.
"That's all you can do. If we don't, OK. If you do, OK, then you're really a great player, and if you don't then you're just a really solid, good player, and if that's me, I'll have to deal with that. None of you guys will, that's just part of the job."
Well said, agree?
But the guy wasn't done, and I believe if I recognize the voice still, it was Jarrett Bell of USA TODAY. Here came the follow-up: So you don't sound worried that your confidence will be shaken or anything like that?
Now Romo probably could have just said no I'm not, and left it at that. Or I guess he could have said, well, I have broad shoulders, I can handle these defeats. Or I suppose he could have said he was so crushed he'll never play another down of football again.
Instead, he decided to be Mr. Opposite Guy, having let the follow-up get under his skin. So instead of deflecting again, this time Romo counter-punched, uttering the now infamous retort:
"I've had a lot worse happen to me than a loss in a sporting event, that's for sure, and if this is the worse thing to happen to me, then I've lived a pretty good life."
Let the howling begin. The ranting. The raving.
So I wonder what Peyton Manning said after losing his first playoff game and after his second the next year and after his third of three the next year? Wonder what Jim Kelly said each time after Buffalo lost four consecutive Super Bowls? Wonder what John Elway said each time after losing his first three Super Bowls over a span of four seasons?
Romo did say all the things you guys wanted him to say, and unless you listened to the unedited raw version of his press conference, you probably had no clue of that. And it's imperative for you to hear the questions asked of him that probably didn't accompany his responses you heard or read.
And as you see, Romo's response causing all this bellyaching was not to something like, "well, how do you feel after losing a game like this? He was not desecrating "the star" or anything as most perceive since the quote was plopped down in the middle of some story or some video package.
Now that you know the rest of the story, and can proceed to make a more intelligent evaluation of Romo's heart and his character and his commitment to this organization, I'm guessing you'll be singing a different tune.
Hey, maybe it is I who should apologize for not making sure you had all the pertinent information you deserved to have. But at the time, and for the past two months, with all that's been going on, this issue just didn't seem all that significant in the scheme of things until hearing what this morning's talk-show caller had to say.
Made me think again, my bad.
Maybe this will make you think again, too.
Original Thread
Patching Old Wounds
Spagnola: Time For The Rest Of the Romo Story
Mickey Spagnola
March 12, 2009 5:33 PM
IRVING, Texas - This has been bugging me for a while, and thought the whole ordeal had died down since that late Dec. 28 afternoon in Philadelphia, so figured, man, just let it go.
But it hasn't gone away. Keeps coming up and up and up.
So time to get this off my chest.
Look, Tony Romo got sound-bit, if you will, following that dreadful 44-6 loss to the Eagles that Sunday at The Linc. Occupational hazard, I suppose, especially when you are the quarterback and expected to speak no matter what after every game. Even if some cartilage that is supposed to remain between your ribs is now poking out your rib cage from the pounding you just got done taking, the pain so bad you were knocked to the floor in the shower by it just 15 minutes earlier.
But there he was, up on this riser in the interview room answering questions for the better part of, oh, I'd say like 10, 15 minutes, and in fact longer than he was supposed to, because when you go back to listen to the interview session, Cowboys public relations director Rich Dalrymple can he heard in the background, first saying, "Two more questions," then telling Romo, "That's it, gotta go," and then telling him, "Come on Tony, the (equipment) truck is about to leave, we got to get on the bus."
In fact, they were taking down the logo backdrop as Romo was saying, "That's OK, I'll answer a few more." Maybe he answered too many because when it comes to our profession here in the media, we can't use all the sound bites and we can't print out all the quotes. You know the game, pick and choose.
Only the juiciest, without a doubt.
And this particular one, in its raw form, without having heard all his preceding answers or without the preceding question, PO-ed the heck out of all you guys:
"I've had a lot worse happen to me than a loss in a sporting event, that's for sure, and if this is the worse thing to happen to be, then I've lived a pretty good life."
OMG, you would have thought Romo had just killed the neighbor's dog. Oh the rage, the indignation this created. How could he say such a thing? How could he so casually pass off the loss? How could he be so flippantly indifferent?
How this changed so many opinions of the kid who captured so many hearts with his plight, coming out of a Division I-AA school undrafted and sitting for three years in relative anonymity before exploding onto the scene in 2006 to earn a Pro Bowl nod in just his first 10 starts and then rewriting the Cowboys passing record book his first full season starting. I mean causing utter dislike.
Still.
Now Romo is a big boy, and he certainly doesn't need me defending him, or I'm guessing in some of your opinions, making excuses for him. But darn it, what's right is right, and in memory of the great Paul Harvey, you should just know the rest of the story.
You should know that at the very start of the press conference when Romo was asked, "How surprised are you, you missed the playoffs?" his answer was exactly what you wanted to hear:
"It's disappointing. Obviously you start out the season for one goal and every team but one obviously feels they didn't have a great season and we're part of that group."
When he was asked, "What do you find most disturbing losing a game like this, the stakes being what they were and not playing well enough (to prevent) getting beat by 38?" he again manned up:
"Like I said, it's frustrating. It's disappointing, you know. Obviously it doesn't feel good. We obviously had hoped to play a lot better than we did."
And when handed a little break, being asked, "Can you talk about what happened at the end (the injury)?" he didn't use his podium for excuse-making:
"Ah, it's just . . . um, I just got a little banged up I guess."
I'll say a little. He was having problems breathing, and needed assistance from two PR department folks to get down off the riser. He braced his hands on each of their shoulders, took a deep breath to help absorb the pain, and then stepped down in anguish.
Made me hurt to watch.
Did you guys realize that had the Cowboys somehow won in Philadelphia, Romo wasn't playing that first-round playoff game? In fact, he didn't manage to throw a football again until the end of January.
Anyway, just thought you guys should know all that.
And you definitely should know the questions Romo was asked to solicit his perceived blasphemous response that a caller on a talk-radio show this morning said caused him to go from being a big Tony Romo fan to a hater now.
First this:
Hey Tony, you won a lot of games in your career, but the way this season ends and the previous two seasons and the rap that you can't win the big one or late in the season, how do you get over that?
Again, occupational hazard, and why I keep telling you the quarterbacks make the big bucks. Because I'm guessing no one asked Marion Barber that. No one asked Terrell Owens that. No one asked DeMarcus Ware that. No one asked Bradie James that. And they all were part of the previous two playoff losses, and they were all part of the team's struggles down the stretches those three seasons.
So I'm guessing the question sort of irritated Romo, and he tries to parry the little shot by saying, "I wake up tomorrow and keep living," which drew a few chuckles but no smiles from him, and continued with, "I mean, you don't - it's a fun game. It's enjoyable and we're going to try and win next year. We're going to try and get back in the playoffs and we're going to try and win a Super Bowl.
"That's all you can do. If we don't, OK. If you do, OK, then you're really a great player, and if you don't then you're just a really solid, good player, and if that's me, I'll have to deal with that. None of you guys will, that's just part of the job."
Well said, agree?
But the guy wasn't done, and I believe if I recognize the voice still, it was Jarrett Bell of USA TODAY. Here came the follow-up: So you don't sound worried that your confidence will be shaken or anything like that?
Now Romo probably could have just said no I'm not, and left it at that. Or I guess he could have said, well, I have broad shoulders, I can handle these defeats. Or I suppose he could have said he was so crushed he'll never play another down of football again.
Instead, he decided to be Mr. Opposite Guy, having let the follow-up get under his skin. So instead of deflecting again, this time Romo counter-punched, uttering the now infamous retort:
"I've had a lot worse happen to me than a loss in a sporting event, that's for sure, and if this is the worse thing to happen to me, then I've lived a pretty good life."
Let the howling begin. The ranting. The raving.
So I wonder what Peyton Manning said after losing his first playoff game and after his second the next year and after his third of three the next year? Wonder what Jim Kelly said each time after Buffalo lost four consecutive Super Bowls? Wonder what John Elway said each time after losing his first three Super Bowls over a span of four seasons?
Romo did say all the things you guys wanted him to say, and unless you listened to the unedited raw version of his press conference, you probably had no clue of that. And it's imperative for you to hear the questions asked of him that probably didn't accompany his responses you heard or read.
And as you see, Romo's response causing all this bellyaching was not to something like, "well, how do you feel after losing a game like this? He was not desecrating "the star" or anything as most perceive since the quote was plopped down in the middle of some story or some video package.
Now that you know the rest of the story, and can proceed to make a more intelligent evaluation of Romo's heart and his character and his commitment to this organization, I'm guessing you'll be singing a different tune.
Hey, maybe it is I who should apologize for not making sure you had all the pertinent information you deserved to have. But at the time, and for the past two months, with all that's been going on, this issue just didn't seem all that significant in the scheme of things until hearing what this morning's talk-show caller had to say.
Made me think again, my bad.
Maybe this will make you think again, too.
