Dallas Cowboys: Is This a Make-or-Break Season for Tony Romo?

If Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo does not have a notably impressive season following the recent NFL lockout, it's time for the franchise to move on and label their poster boy an official 'bust'.

Consider this to be a brief refreshers course in the History of Tony Romo. Romo comes with a compelling history, but his time may be running out. By all accounts, his story is one that the fans would like to hold on to. How the quarterback got into the surprising position that he is in today—the starting quarterback for America's Team trying to hold down the fort just long enough to convince the country that he is still the right man for the job—is as important as his actual career statistics.

Romo, 31, has been on the Cowboys roster since 2003, when he was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Illinois University. As a student at EIU in 2002, Romo was the first player from his school to ever win the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the best player at the NCAA Division I-AA school. 

Despite his lack of hype among fans and the media coming into the franchise, Romo generated some buzz within the Cowboys organization, who were suddenly looking for a real franchise replacement for the coveted Troy Aikman. After an impressive showing at the 2003 NFL Draft Combine, Romo had drawn decent attention from multiple camps, including the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos. Despite suffering through the disappointment of being passed through on draft day, then Cowboys Assistant Coach Sean Payton spent much of the day assuring Romo that the Cowboys still held their interest. Consider this to be the start of a mutual player-to-organization resilience in the newly found relationship with the young quarterback.    

Shortly after the draft, Romo was signed to a professional contract with the Dallas Cowboys. He entered the roster as the third man on the Cowboys quarterback depth chart, behind Quincy Carter and Chad Hutchinson. On any other team, an undrafted quarterback from a Division I-AA university may have been soon forgotten among other aspiring professional athletes. With the Cowboys' fragility and genuine instability at the quarterback position, Romo's shot seemed more eminent than ever imaginable. 

Following Chad Hutchinson's release in 2004, the Cowboys were in full re-design mode. One year after coming out of his 1999 retirement, Bill Parcells signed veteran quarterback Vinny Testaverde to a one-year contract, primarily to mentor Carter. Jerry Jones then traded his third round pick for backup quarterback Drew Henson. 

After Quincy Carter, that left Romo as the fourth quarterback on the depth chart, and his tenure with Dallas may have been put into grave danger. The Cowboys were faced with a tough decision and considered cutting Romo from their roster. Fate would have its way in Romo's favor once again, however, as the Cowboys' decision was made for them when Quincy Carter faced substance abuse allegations and was released from the roster. Vinny Testaverde was named the starter. The Cowboys went on to finish 6-10. 

When Testaverde left the organization in 2005, the Cowboys brought in veteran quarterback and experienced winner Drew Bledsoe to reunite with his first coach, Bill Parcells.

Romo, however, was still hard at work. Romo raked in an impressive 2005 preseason and became the No. 2  starter and direct backup to a former No. 1 pick and Super Bowl Champion. Bledsoe threw for over 3,000 yards for the ninth time in his career and kept the Cowboys playoffs hopes alive until the final day of the season. In that season, the Cowboys finished 9-7—significant improvement from their 2005 campaign.

At this point, Romo had been in the NFL for three complete seasons and had yet to see his first professional snap at quarterback. While he was holding the ball for the kicker on field goal attempts and was the official No. 2 backup, this might not have been how many had idealized their careers going.

But just as Romo had never given up on his professional goals or his team, his team had never given up on him. Now the head coach for the New Orleans Saints, former Cowboys assistant Sean Payton must have seen something in the young backup and had called Jerry Jones to offer his third round pick for Romo. Jerry Jones refused, and insisted on a second round pick or higher.

Coming into the 2006 season, the Cowboys had expected to Drew Bledsoe to continue his successes from the previous season. When the season started, though, Bledsoe had looked shaky and unpredictable, and something was missing in his arm.

On October 1, 2006, Romo got his first professional snap at quarterback, which was a 33-yard completion. On his second and final snap of the day, he threw his first professional touchdown. After an especially awful first half for Drew Bledsoe on October 23, Romo took over for the second half of the game. His first pass was intercepted. He went on to complete 14 of his 25 attempts, as well as throwing for 227 yards, two touchdowns and two more interceptions.

Something in his play, however, had impressed Parcells. On October 25, Parcells announced that Romo would be the starting quarterback for their Sunday Night Football performance against the Panthers in the coming week.

As the official starting quarterback for the Cowboys, Romo had become the ninth quarterback for the organization since Troy Aikman—thus matching the No. 9 that he sported on his jersey. Fate has played some interesting games with Tony Romo's career. 

Romo went on to win his first game as a starter, 35-14, and continued his dominance as the season continued. That season, Romo led the Cowboys past the Colts after completing 19 of his 23 passing attempts. The Colts had been the last remaining undefeated team to that point.

In the annual Thanksgiving Day performance, Romo helped the Cowboys beat Tampa Bay 38-10. Romo threw for 306 yards, threw five touchdowns and did not throw an interception. In his first Thanksgiving Performance, he was given the Fox Galloping Gobbler Award. 

At the end of the 2006 season, his QB Rating was a stellar 95.1, and the Cowboys had clinched a playoffs spot. This would be their second playoffs appearance since Bill Parcells took over in 2003. Their first game would be at Qwest Field, against the Seattle Seahawks. 

From this point on, everyone knows the story. Romo kept the Cowboys in the game until the final minute, when the team was down 21-20 with 1:19 left in the game. Romo marched the team down the field and got within range for a 19-yard field goal attempt. As the line snapper released the ball for the kick, Romo, still the holder for the kicker because he had started the season as the backup quarterback, saw the world collapse onto his back as he couldn't hold on to the slippery ball. As he tried to craftily make do by picking up the botched ball to run into the end zone for a touchdown, he made it to the one-yard line before being tackled by a Seahawks defensive back. What would have been a certain playoffs victory was lost at the hands of a clumsy mistake by the newly crowned star.

The season might have still been considered a success for Romo, who even saw playing time in the 2006 Pro Bowl. At the beginning of the season, Romo was a backup quarterback, and at the end, he had playoff and Pro Bowl experience under his belt.

Unwilling to accept a backup role, Drew Bledsoe retired from the NFL in the 2007 season, and Tony Romo remained as the face of the Dallas franchise. Many would wonder if the role was too big for an undrafted free agent out of EIU, but Romo had the look and the name. 

His play came with a certain swagger, his personality was savvy for the media and his charisma was the right suitor for the man who should be playing quarterback for a team labeled as America's Team. Romo had become an instant celebrity, and his jersey sales had skyrocketed. With his backwards cap and certain smile from the sidelines, his electricity could fill an entire stadium. Just like that, he had ushered himself in as the quarterback for a new generation of Cowboys fans. He was our quarterback, that was our gladiator on the field. We wanted to believe in him. We wanted it to be him who thrusted up the Lombardi Trophy. Something about his eyes made you just want to feel for him.

Just like that, Romo came into the 2007 season owning the world and a new head coach, Wade Phillips, came with him. In his first four games, Romo had won every single one of them and was dominating the league. He had already raked in 1,199 yards on the season, as well as 11 passing touchdowns.

Just as he was looking to enter "Best QB in the Game" discussions, reality bit him hard and on a snowy Monday Night Football game in Buffalo, Romo threw for five intercepted passes and looked as disgruntled as a falling star could be. This was his first experience with a big audience since the playoffs disappointment, and he absolutely tanked. Somehow, the Cowboys went on to win the game behind the leg of Nick Folk. Romo, fortunately, did not get too rattled from the performance.

By November 29, the Cowboys were to play the Packers in a match-up of two 10-1 teams. Romo had already inked a six year, 67.5 million dollar extension with the team, and was playing some of the best football in the league.

I remember watching the Cowboys vs. the Packers in a crowded sports bar with my dad. I was wearing my new Cowboys jersey that I had gotten that preseason in Dallas, and I remember having never seen so many people in one room for a football game. It was a loud atmosphere, and I remember walking in with the most pride I had ever football team; as if there would have been absolutely no way that we would have lost to Brett Favre.

When the Cowboys won 37-27, my dad and I exited that bar on the top of the world. The Cowboys had won, and Romo looked to be as hot as a quarterback could be. In 2007, Romo was the first Cowboys quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season, and he broke the completions record for the franchise as well. His 36 touchdowns was second to only Tom Brady, and the Cowboys finished the season with a 13-3 record.

In the playoffs, however, Romo was unable to deliver once again. Down 21-17 with 30 seconds left and no timeouts, he threw a ball into the endzone that was intercepted and sufficiently eliminated the Cowboys from the playoffs. 

In 2008, Romo started off hot once again and started off the season 3-0, including a triumphant 41-37 victory over the Eagles. In a victory against the Bengals, Romo was hurt and missed the next three games. His replacement, Brad Johnson, went 1-2 in his absence. By Week 16, the Cowboys were 9-6 and needed a victory against the Eagles to make the playoffs. Romo did not show up the same Tony Romo of old, and continued his December losing woes. Romo and the Cowboys, on the most important game of the season, lost the game 44-6, thus throwing away the season. His career record in December had fallen to 5-8. 

Tony Romo had become a bit of an enigma. He had come from nowhere and performed like a football equivalent to The Natural's Roy Hobbs, but his powers seemed to fail him in the big games. The goal of the franchise is to win the championship, and it was starting to seem like Romo was only winning in the regular season. This is certainly not something unfamiliar to sporting heroes; just ask Charles Barkley, Ernie Banks or Dan Marino.     

The 2009 season would prove to be a major test for Tony Romo. Jerry Jones, now losing his patience without bringing home a playoff victory, had completed his vision for Jerry's Palace in Dallas and created the new state of the art stadium. This stadium, he felt, was the only place big enough for the storied history of the franchise and the big personality of the young star. It was a home for winners and not for disappointments.

Unfortunately for Romo, however, the way that he ushered in his new home wasn't exactly pretty. In the first home game at the new stadium, Romo threw for only 127 yards to match his three interceptions. The media, as well as Cowboys great Tony Dorsett, was now riding Romo for his poor performances in big games. 

The season was bumpy, but the highlight came in Week 15. When I had started to feel my Tony Romo momentum shifting to a non-believer, the Romo saga continued, as he anchored a gem and defeated the undefeated 13-0 and soon-to-be Super Bowl Champions, the New Orleans Saints. Great. Just when I think I'm out, he pulls me back in. The Cowboys went on to beat the Redskins 17-0 to clinch their playoffs spot, as well as beating the Eagles, 24-0, to clinch their division. Romo became the first Cowboys player to take every snap for an entire season, and topped his own passing yardage numbers from his previous record.

The Cowboys had made the playoffs, and looked to be a force to be reckoned with. After defeating the Eagles in the Wild Card match, Romo and Coach Wade Phillips had won his first playoffs game of his career, and the Cowboys had won their first playoffs game since 1996.

In the Divisional Playoffs game, Romo fumbled the ball three times, was sacked six times and threw an interception. The Cowboys lost the game 34-3 and were eliminated from the playoffs. 

Dallas Cowboys fans had no idea what to think of Tony Romo coming into the 2010 season. Despite a performance in which he threw for a career-high 406 yards, the Cowboys started off the season 1-3, one of the most disappointing starts of the season for the team's history. Desperately needing a win against a similarly poorly performing Vikings team, Romo threw three touchdowns and two dangerous interceptions. The team lost the game 24-21, and were now 1-4 on the season.

In Week 7 against the Giants, one of the linemen missed their block, and Tony Romo suffered a broken clavicle bone. He was forced to miss the entire season, as he was placed on the injured reserves on December 10. At their lowest point on the season, the Cowboys were 1-7 and Jason Garret was named the new head coach. They finished the season 6-10. 

As we enter the 2011 season, one thing has become clear: Cowboys fans will not play the waiting game any longer. Those who want to see Tony Romo succeed will have to see it quickly, because his career has been nothing short of frustrating so far. His high moments have been among the highest for Cowboys fans of the decade, but every year, his prolific play and presence has ended with palatial disappointment and heart break. The coming season is going to be imperative to the remaining juice that is left with Romo's tenure in Dallas.

I fully believe that Romo can come out this season and play like a champion. I believe that we can forget about the botched snap, Jessica Simpson and the Eagles meltdown. When the season comes, the Tony Romo that we find is going to go gage his future with the team. If he shows the same will and determination that he has in those big games like he has against the Packers in 2008 or the Saints in 2009, I would feel comfortable trusting him with the keys to my franchise. He clearly has the talent in him, but the last thing that this organization needs is another choking job.

Romo has a lot to prove this year, and he is at least going to have the chance to succeed. Otherwise, it may just be the right time to move on to someone like Pryor or Luck when either become available. 

As fans, we want to believe in Romo. We love that he just married Miss Missouri and that he came from the wood works for this job. We want to believe in his success, and we want to believe that our ninth man since Aikman is the right guy for the job.

But if we've seen one thing over the years, it's that there are two Romo's. One can handle the job in Dallas, and he could be the owner of the smiling face hoisting the Lombardi Trophy like Aaron Rodgers just was. The other can't handle the job, and can soon be looking for a new team to start fresh with. Once the 2011 season starts, we will see what the fates have in store for Romo this season.