Tony Romo, San Antonio Have Much To Prove To The NFL
By Robert Crowe
San Antonio, Texas — The Tony Romo-versus-Eli Manning match-up for the NFC East crown is getting a lot of play in San Antonio, which, I’m convinced, has more Cowboys fans per capita than the DF-W Metroplex. For better or worse, Dallas is San Antonio’s de facto NFL franchise.
This city, in spite of being the 7th largest in the country, has been regarded as, um, I guess you can say, unworthy, of holding down an NFL franchise. The corporate gods of professional pigskin shun us year after year in spite of the loyal fan base of the Spurs, a perpetual NBA contender.
City leaders have also softened those boondoggle perceptions of the Alamo Dome with a busy schedule of college bowl games, graduations and monster truck shows. However, our humble venue is no contender for the NFL’s idea of a 21st century stadium, especially in Texas, where a football franchise must ooze the stuff that Ford truck and Budweiser beer commercials are made of. Think “Jerry World,” the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, or the similarly flashy Reliant Stadium in Houston. However, even if all the newly-minted oil millionaires in South Texas banded together to start a San Antonio franchise, I’m not so convinced we’d get a team.
The Dallas Cowboys Industrial Complex is powerful in its machinations. Its decades-long plot to rule the hearts and minds of this city makes me wonder if many friends, relatives and neighbors could break loyalty with America’s Team. This town really loves the Cowboy, but fans are increasingly losing patience with Quarterback Tony Romo.
Romo is under all kinds of pressure to deliver a trip to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys (7-5) matchup with the New York Giants (6-6) for the NFC East crown is an opportunity to break that stereotype that he can’t win big playoff games. His coach, Jason Garrett, may actually have more to prove after his questionable decisions cost the team a win in Arizona last Sunday.
Plenty of NFL players think Romo and Giants QB Eli Manning are both over-rated, while this game could be a lot of hype since the NFC East is the worst in the league right now. This could be Romo’s year to prove his haters wrong. He’s got more impressive numbers, and he’s been making better decisions of late. Manning’s numbers are equally impressive, but his team is coming off four losses.
Romo’s known for getting flustered in big games – he’s just 1-3 in the post season since 2006 and yet to win an NFC Championship. Has he truly grown since the 2007 season, when the wildcard Cowboys lost their first playoff game of the season to the Giants? Manning and his team went on to become only the fifth wildcard team to win a Super Bowl. That was the same season the Cowboys lost a wildcard game to the Seahawks after Romo botched a snap on a field goal attempt.
Can Romo and his team beat the Giants and advance to the NFC Championship? Sure, but beyond that, I’d bet on San Antonio landing an NFL franchise before the Cowboys get into Super Bowl XLVI.
Robert Crowe is a freelance writer who lives in San Antonio and writes about renewable energy and sustainability (and now sports).
[Photo By MC2 Elisia V. Gonzales, USN]