Tony Romo: Should Fans Really Buy Into Recent Hero Hype?

The noise from the clock is starting to tick louder on Tony Romo. He was a hero after cracking his ribs and partially puncturing his lung against the 49ers a few weeks ago, and now he’s about to be thrown out of town because of his three-interception performance against the Lions.

Which Romo will show up? Nobody seems to know, not even Romo.

He seemed to win over some of his detractors by playing so well with such a horrible injury. He led the Cowboys to two victories while taking injections in his side for the pain from his cracked ribs. Romo has finally grown up and seemed, to many, ready to lead Dallas to the NFL’s version of the promise land: the Super Bowl.

But alas it just wasn’t to be. This past Sunday the ‘Boys were up 27-3 on the Lions in the third quarter then the wheels fell off. Romo was intercepted by his best friend and former teammate, current Lions linebacker Bobby Carpenter, and he took it back to the house for six points.

After that pick Romo couldn’t stop the bleeding. He threw another pick-six and was intercepted one more time for good measure.

That 24-point lead was now a thing of the past, and the Cowboys were on their heels. But instead of applying pressure to the wound Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett decided to air the wound out and continue to pass. Romo made a few dumb throws, and he along with the rest of the team paid for it.

To Romo’s credit he doesn’t play defense and can’t be blamed for the Cowboys inability to stop the Lions. Yet he does shoulder the load for the team’s overall collapse because it all started with his first interception and Carpenter's touchdown.

But the question of the evening isn’t whether Romo’s to blame for a loss, it’s whether he’s truly a sports hero.

The simple answer is "no," but the long one is a bit more complicated than that.

The Cowboys love Romo, and they are behind him 100 percent because they truly believe in him and his ability to lead them. I think that Romo finally grew into the leader the Cowboys needed this season, and he’ll continue to be that for Dallas until he no longer wears the star on his helmet.

I get the feeling that Romo has the full trust of his team, coaches and ownership. He just doesn’t have that with fans.

Last week wide receiver Dez Bryant said that his decision to play was because he saw that Romo was going to play with broken ribs and played with the pain of a bruised quad.

So in that sense, he is a hero to his teammates. He’s shown his ability to play through pain and led his team to victory. In football, that goes miles with your teammates, and we can see by how Cowboys players defend him without blinking an eye.

Now it's time for Romo to show that he’s able to translate that onto the football field. Everything isn’t black and white, and throwing three interceptions isn’t necessarily indicative of his ability, or inability, to perform in the clutch. It shows that he has confidence in himself but gets ahead of himself at times.

He also needs help from his head coach. Garrett calls the plays and will oftentimes will put Romo in position to fail. If the Cowboys have the lead, how about burning the clock and running the ball instead of continuing to throw where there is a higher chance of a turnover?

Romo is a hero to his teammates because of his toughness, but until he proves that he can hero Dallas to a Super Bowl victory, it just won’t matter.

-JH

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