Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has always struggled in clutch situations, but there are very few who would question his toughness. Romo has played through broken ribs and taken some brutal hits throughout his career. On Thursday, he reportedly played through a nasty stomach virus en route to a 31-24 win over the Oakland Raiders.
Jerry Jones said after the game that Romo had “terrible stomach issues” throughout the day and was “very sick.” The team later announced that Romo was vomiting earlier in the day and needed IV fluids before the game and during halftime. He was unable to warm up or throw any passes before the game.
“He kind of put on that Michael Jordan that is sick and sticking it out and pulling this W out for us,” Dez Bryant said, via The Dallas Morning News. “He’s already a beast, but beast times two comes out [in that situation]. That’s exactly what he showed. Whenever he’s doing things like that it just boosts every one of these guys up and makes them want to play harder, bring out something that we didn’t know that we had.”
The Cowboys trailed 21-7 late in the second quarter before Romo led a 70-yard drive that cut the deficit to 21-14 heading into the half. In the second half, the 33-year-old caught fire and completed all 12 of his pass attempts. Naturally, he shot down the Jordan comparison and said he wasn’t nearly as sick as MJ was back in 1997.
With the NFC East race as tight as it has been all season, Romo has now led the Cowboys to back-to-back victories that required tremendous focus in the second half. Between the game-winning field goal drive on the road against the New York Giants last week and the stomach virus this week, Romo deserves plenty of credit for his clutch performances.
