Even though Tony Romo retired, he will always be a special player in the Dallas Cowboys history. Dak Prescott has proved his worth, but today, we will share nine stories about Tony Romo you perhaps didn’t know.
9. Pranks
Just take a look at this video with Tony Romo talking to Graham Bensinger:
8. First date with his wife
Tony Romo and his wife Candice started to date while she was still in college, her brother Chace Crawford told The Rich Eisen Show. Here is how their relationship started: “Tony saw her and I guess casually asked her to a movie/dinner date, where you’re eating at the theatre. They did that. She was kind of blown away (before the first date). And my parents, being massive Cowboys fans, she didn’t want them in the house. And they said, ‘We’re already here. What do you want us to do?’ And she said, ‘Hide. Hide in the back.’ She made my parents hide. She didn’t realize Tony was coming over to pick her up. It caught her off guard, so she pushes my parents back in the back. … Literally in their master bathroom. I’m not even kidding.”
7. Super Bowl and Tom Brady
The Patriots played against Dallas two years ago, and Tony Romo told the New England’s QB Tom Brady that the two are going to meet in the Super Bowl that year. Romo said this to Brady after the game ended and the Patriots took the W. However, neither team reached the Super Bowl – The Cowboys had a disappointing season, whereas the Pats lost to Denver, a team that eventually celebrated.
6. Combine Swagger
During the 2003 combine, Rick Gosselin interviewed Tony Romo and here is what he had to say about the young fellow at the time:
“Romo was a late addition to the combine as a thrower. Every year the NFL invites 2-3 extra quarterbacks to Indy to throw to the receivers because often times there’s a shortage of arms. Many of the top quarterbacks elect not to throw at Indianapolis, preferring to save their arms for their campus workouts.
I started off by asking Romo about the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the best player at the Division I-AA level.
“I’m not sure how much the Heisman meant to Carson, but it meant quite a bit to me,” Romo answered. “It’s a testament not only to my work over the years but my team’s as well. I wouldn’t have been able to get there if I didn’t have these players around me. We had 4-5 All-Americas. It’s going to be great to look back upon when you’re older. It’s exciting.”
I asked Romo if a quarterback from Eastern Illinois felt at all out of place competing at the combine with quarterbacks from Southern Cal, Florida, Texas and Miami.
“I’m not coming here nervous,” Romo said. “I feel I’m a guy who’s going to rise up. I’ve got a lot of confidence. I feel I’m going to show people I belong and that I can outperform a lot of these guys, hopefully.”
You could detect a bit of swagger then — but that swagger hit full throttle when I asked Romo my final question. How did he end up at Eastern Illinois?
“I was good in high school but not great,” Romo said. “Every year in college I got a lot better. That was progressing me to the point now where, five years later, I felt I could have played at a I-A school. At the end of my junior year, I felt I could have played at a lot of I-A schools. In my senior year I felt I could have played anywhere in the country. I’ve gotten better over the years. I’ve learned how to get better.”
5. The Trip To Cabo
Romo had a good life back in 2007 but his ex-girlfriend Jessica Simpson started to jinx the team. Jessica Simpson was spotted on the game against the Eagles when she wore the pink Romo jersey. After the Dallas loss, everyone just blamed Simpson, and this received so much coverage, and Jessica earned herself a nickname Yoko Romo. She swore that she would not wear that jersey again.
Dallas was successful, and the team ended up at the first position, so they didn’t play in the first round. In order to make use of the bye week, Romo, Simpson, Jason Witten and Bobby Carpenter went to Cabo and Tony was criticized because of this decision.
“You don’t go to Cabo the week before a playoff game,” former Cowboys QB Troy Aikman told Michael Irvin on a radio interview at the time. “You just don’t do it.” Fans were dissatisfied as well.
4. Crownies
That commercial for Direct TV was hilarious, and Arts and Craftsy Tony Romo is still kind of terrifying. Anyway, you can look at the commercial here.
3. Jessica Simpson
We’re back in business. Tony Romo returned from Cabo in order to face the New York Giants, and Jessica wasn’t there to support him, so he played well. Or did he? He threw 36 passes, but he completed only half with one TD and one interception. He was sacked twice and finished the game with a 64.7 QB rating. The Giants won the game. It appeared that The New York Post pranked the Cowboys by sending a Simpson look-alike to watch the game. This is what Seattle Times wrote:
“Lynsey Nordstrom is a 21-year-old nanny from Bothell who looks like the pop singer and paparazzi target. She’s so similar, in fact, the New York Post flew Nordstrom to Dallas for last Sunday’s NFC playoff game with the Giants to pose as Simpson as a prank. That triggered a dizzying week that only a diva — and her dead ringer — could appreciate.”
“Simpson is dating Romo, the Cowboys’ quarterback. She attended a Dallas game earlier this season, wearing his No. 9 jersey. The Cowboys lost. Yoko Ono comparisons followed, and Simpson stayed away from the playoff game against the Giants.”
“But her look-alike was there. The Post put Nordstrom in a Romo jersey and sat her three rows up from the Cowboys’ bench. And Dallas lost again, putting the Giants in the NFC Championship Game — and earning Nordstrom some notoriety.”
“She flew to Dallas on Saturday, watched the game Sunday and returned Monday to work a shift as a nanny. She headed to New York that night on a red-eye flight. She has appeared on the cover of the Post, and created such a buzz she was told Donald Trump called the tabloid to ask about meeting her.”
2. A Twittersphere message
Dallas had a rough season two years ago, and Romo was injured against the Eagles in Week 2, while Cowboys lost seven straight games. Romo was scheduled to return against the Dolphins which gave hope to the Cowboys fans. Tony Romo sent out an inspiring message on Twitter.
1. Fat Tony Romo?
There are funny images online even Romo headed into the 2016 season in perfect form. The team’s executive vice president Stephen Jones said that Romo entered camp in “some of the best shape he’s been in.” However, this is the Twitter photo taken by SportsDay’s Jon Machota who wrote this:
“It certainly appears as if Romo is overweight. He is not. It was some poor camera work on my part. As you can see in the photo at the top of the story and in the video below, Romo is the same size he was during organized team activities and minicamp. …Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan also assured that Romo is in good shape.”
“I hope they don’t take any pictures of me,” Linehan said. “I don’t think anyone would be interested in me. I’d be embarrassed. They could shoot a lot of holes in my beauty. I stay in my lane, try to take care of myself and stay out of pictures if I can.”
