Tony Romo To Retire

Tony Romo announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday and immediately embarked on his next venture – lead analyst for CBS on its Sunday and Thursday night football broadcasts.

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback bumped another ex-star, Phil Simms, from his role with Jim Nantz in the booth. No one yet seems to know what will become of Simms, whether he will stay with CBS or simply continue with Showtime’s Inside the NFL series.

Romo, 36, lost his job last season to a combination of a back injury and rookie Dak Prescott’s stunning emergence as a more-than-capable replacement. Over the last two seasons, Romo appeared in only five games and four of those were in 2015. His brief insertion into a game late last season was merely a token look.

Given his injury history over the last four seasons (four to the back, two cracked collarbones), it seems his decision to leave the game while reasonably whole is wise. And he exits as Dallas’ all-time passing leader.

It was a remarkable career, in that it began for Romo as an undrafted free agent. First-round picks flop with regularity, but he became the starter in his third season and made the Pro Bowl four times.

Will we remember him for that, though, or his dismal playoff record? His first coach with the Cowboys, Bill Parcells, used to pose this question when asked about a quarterback’s successes: “How many pelts does he have on his pony?” Romo, sadly, is peltless.

The Cowboys never approached a Super Bowl in his tenure, went 2-4 in playoff games with him starting and lost a particularly memorable one to the Seattle Seahawks after the 2007 season when, while serving as the holder for a gimme field goal attempt for a win, he fumbled the snap, picked it up and was tackled at the Seattle 2-yard line. The Cowboys lost 21-20.

Say what you will about the playoffs. That an undrafted player from Eastern Illinois (a Division II school) became the Cowboys’ career passing leader in defiance of all odds is what made his career special.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman