Does Tony Romo Really Deserve To Wear the Star?

From the time I started playing football at eight years old until my career ended in college, it’s been a time-honored tradition to reward great plays with a small sticker that is placed somewhere on your helmet.

Tremendous defensive plays or vicious hits have always been awarded a skull and crossbones sticker. Great offensive plays or TDs were given either a small football sticker or a star.

And this brings me to the Dallas Cowboys.

Growing up in the shadow of the Cowboys, I’ve followed the team most of my life. I’ve seen the lows of the 1-15 team and the highs of the great Super Bowl teams of the '90s.

Now, I’m not here to debate who is a better QB, Aikman or Romo. Nor am I here to compare the current Cowboys to the '90s Cowboys with Aikman, Irvin, Smith, and a FB named Moose.

But I am here to pose one simple question: Does Tony Romo really deserve the star on his helmet?

We all know Romo stands in the long line of those trying to fill the void of an iconic QB. It's an unenviable task at best. Few replacements have been able to fill the shoes of the previous icon.

Dallas has had eight starting QBs since Aikman retired in 2000.

Brian Greise had the NFL pedigree but couldn’t make those orange crush sunsets in Denver quite as beautifully as Elway did.

Babe Laufenberg couldn’t make lightning appear "at will," like Dan Fouts did in San Diego.

Jay Fiedler could not have stayed afloat as a Dolphin, even if he wore those arm floats my son used in the warm confines of the pee-infested kiddie pool. Marino was just too prolific of a passer.

Aaron Rodgers, who has a size-14 foot, the same as Favre, will never fill those shoes, even with a Dr. Scholl's insert.

In fact, Steve Young is the only QB to follow a previous Hall of Famer into the Hall of Fame. The rest of the followers were just...well, followers.

In Aikman's first 38 games, he threw for 7,082 yards. So far, Romo has amassed 8,803 passing yards in four fewer games. Give Tony a star.

Aikman had Jimmy Johnson, a real football coach; Romo has Wade Phillips, the second best bobble-head coach next to whoever lands the Raiders' gig. Another star to Tony.

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