Monday, January 08, 2007

I Feel For Romo

I watched the Cowboys bow out of the playoffs Saturday night. As I watched bits and pieces of "wildcard weekend," it made me wonder how most of those teams even made the playoffs. It sure seems to me that the talent level is watered down in the NFL right now.

I am also reminded, after the Cowboy loss, how fickle we are. Two months ago, Tony Romo could have been voted into the Cowboy's Ring of Honor after only playing 4 or 5 games. I felt like it was unfair for people to be passing on the Meridith-Staubach-Aikman mantle to him at that time, and some people took that to mean that I didn't care for him. I like Romo. I don't think he is a franchise quarterback, but I like him. I just don't think you can make such an evaluation over a month of games. It takes years.

So, Romo botched THE snap, and that is all that Cowboy fans remember. They have forgotten that Terry' Glenn's fumble into the endzone actually turned into 9 points. They didn't notice the disappearance of T. O. against a secondary made up of guys who couldn't play for many colleges -- much less pro. Oh, he did show up long enough to drop another pass that must have been too perfectly placed into his hands. No one has mentioned the usually-reliable Jason Whitten fumbling. And, in my humble opinion, Roy Williams has to be the most overrated player in the NFL.

No, it's all about Romo. From hero to goat. I wonder how he felt that night as he went home. I wonder if Carrie Underwood singing, "Jesus, Take the Snap" would have helped (I am digressing here).

We are just not fair to people who are out front: From politicians to athletes to coaches to preachers and elders. When things are good, they are given too much credit. When things go bad, we are unmerciful.

4 comments:

Amy C said...

I agree!

Anonymous said...

Parcells knew. His "put away the anointing oil" comment was almost prophetic. I, too, like Romo. He is an underdog who got a chance. I still think he will be okay, but it's going to take some maturing. I can't even imagine the amount of pressure he felt. (I still hope T.O. goes elsewhere!)

Jeff said...

I agree with most of what you say except for preachers getting too much blame. Isn't it always their fault? Just kidding. You are right. There are so many things that went wrong for the Cowboys just as there usually is in any other situation.

I enjoyed Florida's basketball championship last year because they really played and acted like a team. They all stood out for their different roles but all played together and all came back for one more year of school when they could have gone pro because of the team.

Anonymous said...

Like most things it's a heart issue. In our hearts we depend on athletes for entertainment, for escapism, and horribly for heroism. And we depend on our elders and ministers to do things we should do rather than for leadership.