No, I'm sure none of us would have gone either

Mike Burke
Cumberland Times-News

January 16, 2008 11:20 am

— For any of you who have taken time in the past to send me venom-laced e-mails, or phone calls, or greetings on the street concerning this matter, you understand I come here today not as a Dallas Cowboys fan or sympathizer.
Having re-established this, I do, however, feel compelled to take this time to ask, "So Tony Romo went to the beach in Mexico with his girlfriend Jessica Simpson during his off-time in the week leading to the Cowboys' NFC playoff game with the New York Giants?
"So what?"
Yes, of course, the Cowboys lost to the Giants, 21-17. We all know that by now. Heck, we knew that 20 times over by 9 o'clock Sunday evening if we watched any television at all. But what we've also gathered from watching television and reading the newspapers is Romo was simply following orders from Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips. To a degree, of course.
"Take time off. Get away from football. Go enjoy yourself and relax," is what Wade Phillips told his players, followed up with, "But come back refreshed and recharged and be ready to win a football game."
Romo did precisely what his coached directed him to do, although, as we were reminded over and over again during the week leading up to the game, he set himself up to take a huge fall, because he is the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, and when anything at all involves the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, perception quickly becomes reality. Particularly if you lose a home playoff game to a team you've slaughtered twice before this season.
If you watched the Cowboys-Giants game on Sunday, you understand that Romo played all right, although not fabulously. But you also know he had no chance to play fabulously because his wide receivers and his offensive line did absolutely nothing to help him. There were dropped passes throughout - dropped passes that could have made a huge difference in this game. And as the game wore on, the resistance of the Cowboys offensive line wore off as Romo was flushed out of the pocket on well over half of Dallas' second-half plays.
The guy did what he could do if you ask me, and this isn't meant to take him off the hook completely, because I think those side-armed passes he slings, rather than stepping up into his throws, are more of an indication of something other than an unorthodox style.
Still, it seems to me there were other factors involved other than Romo and Simpson running off to the beach that played a hand in yet another poor Dallas showing in the playoffs.
For beginners, why was it necessary for Dallas owner Jerry Jones to reward Romo with a brand-new six-year, $67.5 million contract 10 weeks into what had been a brilliant season by the Cowboys quarterback, even though this Cowboys quarterback had really done nothing to warrant such a deal?
Career Romo playoff victories? Zero (remember how Seattle ended last year?).
Pro Bowl appearances? One, although it was sheer absurdity Romo would be named to last year's Pro Bowl squad despite not even playing a full season.
Second-half season meltdowns? Two, with the second one coming almost immediately after Romo signed the $67.5-million deal.
Career playoff victories by Dallas veteran head coach Wade Phillips? Zero.
Playoff savvy of this talented Cowboys team? Virtually none as people seem to keep forgetting this is an extremely young Dallas team.
Look, the Cowboys and Romo have petered out the past two seasons, and one of the reasons for Romo's disappearances could be found in the fact that he's a young guy from Wisconsin who played his college football at Eastern Illinois, and entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent.
There's a reason he wasn't drafted by any NFL team, but now, suddenly, he's the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys? Now, suddenly, he has Carrie Underwood, Sophia Bush and Jessica Simpson jockeying for position for his attention in front of the entire viewing world; or, better yet, in the case of Simpson, given the wide-ranging scope of her career these days, for the attention she will receive by being seen keeping company with the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys? Now, suddenly, he has a new contract worth close to 70 million beans? And now, suddenly, he has to get "America's Team" to the Super Bowl when just four years ago the Division I-AA Ohio Valley Conference was the highest level of competition he had ever gone up against before in his life?
How could anybody who had been in Romo's position honestly say they would have handled this situation any differently? Sure, after my boss tells me to take a few days off to relax and get away from the job, I'm going to pass up an opportunity to go to Mexico with Jessica Simpson? Sure I am.
Look, the beaches of Mexico are a heck of a lot closer to where Romo lives than where we live. It's not as though he was traveling for days to get there and then get back. Then once he gets there, how can he help it - and this is just a hunch - if it is Ms. Simpson's people who alert the paparazzi about their whereabouts?
But again, when it involves the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, perception is reality, and the perception is Romo didn't handle this situation very well at all. By last Wednesday, he had already set himself up to take the fall if the Cowboys lost, which they did. So, the thinking here is if the young Cowboys and the young Romo ever find themselves in the same position again, things will be handled just a tad differently, wouldn't you think?
Well, until we walk a mile in Tony Romo's shoes, who are we to say?
But wouldn't we love to know?
Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.

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