Romo-mania hits warped speed in hyperspace
By JENNIFER FLOYD ENGEL
jenfloyd@star-telegram.com
Keyshawn Johnson apparently believes Tony Romo is the Paris Hilton of the NFL, famous mostly for being famous.
Of course, Key also thinks he is the next Regis Philbin.
This is added as a friendly reminder that opinions are neither facts nor always based on them — even when uttered by a personal favorite like Keyshawn.
You get a free pass if you missed this latest installment of The World According to Keyshawn, seeing as his random Romo musing originally appeared in a tiny LA Times note and was revealed locally during a long holiday weekend that included rain-soaked images of Ashley Judd at the Indy 500 and a compelling Colonial.
What happened was Keyshawn, who was at his retirement soiree, had a two-word answer — “Tony Romo” — when asked who is the most overhyped NFL player.
“He’s with the Dallas Cowboys,” Keyshawn added, hinting that where — not how — he plays had led to Romo-mania. “He’s played five games. He’s an overhyped deal.”
It should be noted that Romo actually started 11 games and that Keyshawn was a Drew Henson guy while playing for the Cowboys. Of course, Keyshawn was like every NFL receiver — a “Whoever Is Going To Get Me The Ball” guy — and preferred Romo to the other Drew long before that was fashionable.
And whatever else you think of Keyshawn, honesty is not one of his problems. Nor is overhyped the same jab as overrated or flat-out can’t play.
Overhyped is more a criticism of the “hypers” than the “hypee.”
Coach Parcells mocked this tendency toward “Romo-is-Roger-Staubach-Joe-Montana-and-Tom-Brady-all-rolled-into-one” overhype, especially by media types, all last season. This led to a lot of confusing references to anointing oil and its lack of availability at 1-800-FIND-A-QB.
He repeated his sentiment again to Romo before exiting Valley Ranch for good, basically telling him the tricky thing about hype is eventually it has to be lived up to. Coach Parcells believes much on-the-field progress is needed before Romo justifies his hype.
Hardly anybody else seems to share this concern. Not Verizon, which put Romo in a commercial; not Carrie Underwood, who chose him as a worthy boyfriend; not the Miss Universe pageant, which tapped him as a celebrity judge; and certainly not the Cowboys, who passed on Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn in the draft.
I want to get on record here that not taking Quinn was a mistake and not because I do not think Romo is capable of being the guy. Why I hated the decision was because their reasoning was faulty. You do not pass on a QB you thought was the eighth-best player in the draft at No. 22 because you are afraid it will hurt the feelings of a QB who you think is going to be really good.
And guess who is the biggest perpetrator in this underthinking, overhyping mess?
Owner Jones, of course.
He has been receiving a lot of love lately, and deservedly so, for his rather big role in bringing the 2011 Super Bowl to Arlington. And, if being a kick-butt owner were his only job, he’d have a higher approval rating than Romo.
But he is also GM Jerry. He is the guy most responsible for trying to get the Cowboys to the Super Bowl before the Super Bowl gets to Arlington.
He believes they will.
Of course, he always believes they will, even when all evidence is to the contrary.
Jerry believes every year is a Super Bowl year and every quarterback a Super Bowl quarterback. Q was the next McNabb, Hutch was the next Aikman, Henson was the next Brady, Bledsoe was the next — I can not even remember who they were comparing him to — and now Romo is better than them all.
And he may very well be.
Just like this Cowboys team may indeed be Super Bowl-bound next season.
However, this perpetual blind belief prevents the Cowboys from taking an honest look at themselves — flaws, flubs and all — and admitting a step back is needed to take four forward. Even coach Wade Phillips has jumped feet first into this idiocy.
“I don’t see any real weaknesses talent-wise,” he unwisely said recently.
This is a team that has looked like the Campo Cowboys the past two Decembers and has not won a playoff game in more than a decade, but it can not stop hyping how good it is.
How close it is.
“Close is a terrible word; it’s meaningless,” Romo said at a recent Cowboys minicamp. “You do it, or you don’t.”
The same can be said for him.
The difference is that he is not the one overhyping or even hyping himself. It is others — the media, the Cowboys and namely GM Jerry. And they are not doing him any favors.
All they are doing is proving Keyshawn’s point.
jenfloyd@star-telegram.com
Keyshawn Johnson apparently believes Tony Romo is the Paris Hilton of the NFL, famous mostly for being famous.
Of course, Key also thinks he is the next Regis Philbin.
This is added as a friendly reminder that opinions are neither facts nor always based on them — even when uttered by a personal favorite like Keyshawn.
You get a free pass if you missed this latest installment of The World According to Keyshawn, seeing as his random Romo musing originally appeared in a tiny LA Times note and was revealed locally during a long holiday weekend that included rain-soaked images of Ashley Judd at the Indy 500 and a compelling Colonial.
What happened was Keyshawn, who was at his retirement soiree, had a two-word answer — “Tony Romo” — when asked who is the most overhyped NFL player.
“He’s with the Dallas Cowboys,” Keyshawn added, hinting that where — not how — he plays had led to Romo-mania. “He’s played five games. He’s an overhyped deal.”
It should be noted that Romo actually started 11 games and that Keyshawn was a Drew Henson guy while playing for the Cowboys. Of course, Keyshawn was like every NFL receiver — a “Whoever Is Going To Get Me The Ball” guy — and preferred Romo to the other Drew long before that was fashionable.
And whatever else you think of Keyshawn, honesty is not one of his problems. Nor is overhyped the same jab as overrated or flat-out can’t play.
Overhyped is more a criticism of the “hypers” than the “hypee.”
Coach Parcells mocked this tendency toward “Romo-is-Roger-Staubach-Joe-Montana-and-Tom-Brady-all-rolled-into-one” overhype, especially by media types, all last season. This led to a lot of confusing references to anointing oil and its lack of availability at 1-800-FIND-A-QB.
He repeated his sentiment again to Romo before exiting Valley Ranch for good, basically telling him the tricky thing about hype is eventually it has to be lived up to. Coach Parcells believes much on-the-field progress is needed before Romo justifies his hype.
Hardly anybody else seems to share this concern. Not Verizon, which put Romo in a commercial; not Carrie Underwood, who chose him as a worthy boyfriend; not the Miss Universe pageant, which tapped him as a celebrity judge; and certainly not the Cowboys, who passed on Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn in the draft.
I want to get on record here that not taking Quinn was a mistake and not because I do not think Romo is capable of being the guy. Why I hated the decision was because their reasoning was faulty. You do not pass on a QB you thought was the eighth-best player in the draft at No. 22 because you are afraid it will hurt the feelings of a QB who you think is going to be really good.
And guess who is the biggest perpetrator in this underthinking, overhyping mess?
Owner Jones, of course.
He has been receiving a lot of love lately, and deservedly so, for his rather big role in bringing the 2011 Super Bowl to Arlington. And, if being a kick-butt owner were his only job, he’d have a higher approval rating than Romo.
But he is also GM Jerry. He is the guy most responsible for trying to get the Cowboys to the Super Bowl before the Super Bowl gets to Arlington.
He believes they will.
Of course, he always believes they will, even when all evidence is to the contrary.
Jerry believes every year is a Super Bowl year and every quarterback a Super Bowl quarterback. Q was the next McNabb, Hutch was the next Aikman, Henson was the next Brady, Bledsoe was the next — I can not even remember who they were comparing him to — and now Romo is better than them all.
And he may very well be.
Just like this Cowboys team may indeed be Super Bowl-bound next season.
However, this perpetual blind belief prevents the Cowboys from taking an honest look at themselves — flaws, flubs and all — and admitting a step back is needed to take four forward. Even coach Wade Phillips has jumped feet first into this idiocy.
“I don’t see any real weaknesses talent-wise,” he unwisely said recently.
This is a team that has looked like the Campo Cowboys the past two Decembers and has not won a playoff game in more than a decade, but it can not stop hyping how good it is.
How close it is.
“Close is a terrible word; it’s meaningless,” Romo said at a recent Cowboys minicamp. “You do it, or you don’t.”
The same can be said for him.
The difference is that he is not the one overhyping or even hyping himself. It is others — the media, the Cowboys and namely GM Jerry. And they are not doing him any favors.
All they are doing is proving Keyshawn’s point.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:49 PM
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