Larry Brown Sports

Tony Romo is arguably the best golfer in the NFL. He plays in the big Pebble Beach Pro-Am every year and almost always impresses viewers with the way he is able to hold his own against some of the game’s best. That type of stroke requires a lot of practice to perfect, but Romo is spending less time doing that this offseason.

According to ESPNDallas.com’s Todd Archer, Romo has decided to pass on playing in several tournaments he typically takes part in around this time of year, including the Azalea Invitation in South Carolina and the Adams Pro/Scratch, which he has won in the past. He will also not attempt to qualify for the Byron Nelson Championship or the US Open.

Coincidence? Maybe not. Romo turned 33 last month and recently inked a six-year, $108 million extension with the Dallas Cowboys. The time for him to shed the choker label is now, and owner Jerry Jones did not hold back last weekend when he said he expects Romo to put in as much time preparing for games this season as guys like Peyton Manning do.

Players have a right to spend time with their families and enjoy a little bit of leisure during the offseason, but the more time Romo spends working on his golf game the less he can spend in the film room or lifting weights. Based on the recent comments made by some of his teammates, it’s obvious that the pressure is starting to build. Romo is already viewed as someone who is incapable of winning the big game. Focusing on golf during the offseason would only increase the criticism. Whether skipping the aforementioned tournaments is a football decision or not, it can only help Romo’s image.

UPDATE: Someone told us over Twitter that Romo tweaked his back playing at Pebble Beach, which could explain things.

H/T Pro Football Talk

Tony Romo signed a massive contract extension worth $108 million with the Dallas Cowboys last week. Considering he has only one playoff win in seven seasons as a starting quarterback, many people (see: McNabb, Donovan) feel that Jerry Jones gave Romo way more money than he is worth.

None of that matters when the Cowboys kick off their 2013 season, and linebacker DeMarcus Ware reminded us of that during an interview with Sirius XM’s NFL Radio on Thursday.

“I feel like everybody is deserving to whatever is given to him, but at the end of the day, to me it’s put up or shut up,” Ware said when asked about Romo’s contract, via The Dallas Morning News. “I’m just being straight-up honest with you. Get out there and be productive, and that’s with any player. Whatever they get, they’re deserving of it. You just got to get out there and play and I know he can be and will be the quarterback that is going to be the quarterback that is going to take us to the next level.”

Statistically, Romo is one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. He makes mistakes at critical times, but his QB rating has never been lower than 90.5 in a single season. Quarterbacks are at such a premium that you have to spend $55 million in guaranteed money to keep one of them — even if that person has been a failure in the clutch.

Ware has defended Romo as a leader in the past, but you could argue that the Cowboys quarterback is going to be under more pressure than ever going forward. If he continues to make poor decisions like this with the game on the line, Romo’s contract will start to look pretty horrible to his teammates and the fans.

Tony Romo hit the jackpot on Thursday, as the 32-year-old quarterback reportedly agreed to a six-year, $108 million extension with the Dallas Cowboys. The real shocker for many people has been the $55 million in guaranteed money that Romo is expected to receive, which is about as good as it gets in the NFL. It’s even better when you consider the fact that Romo has never won a Super Bowl and has only one playoff victory in his career.

That being said, quarterbacks are at a premium across the league. An above-average quarterback is an incredibly valuable asset, and Romo has put up tremendous stats despite his typically poor play in the clutch. That doesn’t mean Donovan McNabb agrees with the deal. In fact, the former Pro Bowler thinks it’s downright crazy.

Tony Romo 6 yr 55 million dollar extension. Wow really, with one playoff win. You got to be kidding me

— Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) March 29, 2013

My bad everyone it 55 million guaranteed. It’s a total of 108 million, wow

— Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) March 29, 2013

If McNabb thought giving Romo a $55 million extension over six years was insane, he must have hit the roof when he realized that was just the guaranteed money and the deal itself was worth twice that. Although, I find it tough to believe anyone could think Romo isn’t worth an average of just over $8 million a year.

Aside from the fact that players-turned-analysts usually don’t speak as candidly as McNabb did, the former Phildelphia Eagle has once again made himself look like a dufus on Twitter. Remember the whole congratulatory tweet for Danica Patrick? Someone needs to tell Donovan to start taking a deep breath before he fires off a tweet.

Photo credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

The Dallas Cowboys finished 8-8 for the second straight season and missed the playoffs for the third straight year after losing to the Washington Redskins 28-18 Sunday with the NFC East on the line. Tony Romo threw three interceptions, including picks on back-to-back possessions in the first quarter, and a third to ruin a comeback attempt late in the game. The performance cemented nearly everything about Romo’s reputation as a player; he commits too many turnovers and chokes under pressure.

Former Cowboys legends Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders, who work for NFL Network, were among the commentators who were hard on Romo following the poor ballgame.

“I’m never going to say 8-8 is a success, not a guy who holds three rings. Playing hard is good. Winning is better,” said Irvin, via the Los Angeles Times. “You watch all these guys, Robert Griffin III, Eli Manning, Michael Vick — these are top quarterbacks, drafted in top spots, they know and feel like they belong in that situation. Tony Romo is the only undrafted QB in the East and sometimes, in those moments, he feels like, ‘I have to prove to everybody I belong here,’ and tries to do so much and that gets him into trouble.”

Sanders seemed even more fed up.

“How many times are we going to sit here as fans and say, ‘Here we go again?’” Sanders said. “I love to win at all costs. 1-6 in elimination games, that’s telling me something is not getting better around here. The kind of person I am, I need to jump off and try to correct this thing…. I can’t put this one thing all on Tony. But Tony brings me to the same situation at the conclusion of every year. Take a picture, this date, and see if we’re playing the same picture next year. We always think it’s going to get better, but it’s the same-old same-old.”

I don’t really agree with Irvin that Romo is out to prove he belongs with these other quarterbacks, but how can you not agree with Deion? It feels like the same thing over and over with Romo. The guy makes some spectacular plays and can move the ball, but he’s so unreliable with the game on the line. Dallas’ front office would have to be foolish not to see that by now and realize they need to make a change.

Photo credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Tony Romo reportedly played through cracked ribs from the second quarter on in the Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday night, but the 10-year veteran is not using the injury as an excuse. Romo threw three interceptions as Dallas once again fell short of the postseason, and he took responsibility for the loss after the game.

“I feel as though I let our team down,” he told reporters, via the Dallas Morning News. “It’s disappointing not being able to get over that hump, but I also know that football is the ultimate team sport and I need to continue to improve, and our football team does, to get there.”

Dez Bryant also suffered from severe back spasms that forced him from the game in the fourth quarter. He was seen leaving the stadium in a wheelchair. Miles Austin suffered a high ankle sprain in the second quarter and tried to return, but ultimately could not play through the pain and left in the third quarter. Dallas was certainly banged up at an inopportune time, but Cowboys fans don’t want to hear it.

“Your legacy will be written when you’re done playing the game,” Romo said.

Time is not on Romo’s side. He will be 33 at the start of next season, and Sunday night’s performance has further cemented his reputation as a choker who makes crucial mistakes and has been consistently incapable of winning the big game. Last season, the Cowboys had a chance to make the playoffs by beating the New York Giants in the final game of the season but the end result was the same. If you ask Dallas fans, they will tell you that it has always been the same with Romo under center.

Of course, Romo didn’t lose by himself. A quarterback never loses or wins a game by himself. But his interception in the fourth quarter on a pass that was intended for DeMarco Murray in the flat was inexcusable. Romo recently expressed confidence that the Cowboys know they are going to win if they are within 14 points heading into the fourth quarter, and they were in position for yet another comeback in Washington. Instead, Romo gave the game away with a horrible decision. And not a single person was surprised.

Photo credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

The Dallas Cowboys have become notorious in recent years for making costly mistakes with the game on the line. Tony Romo has consistently established himself as a quarterback who can never seem to win the big game, but he and his teammates have shown some uncharacteristic resiliency this season.

As John Machota of the Dallas Morning News pointed out, the Cowboys have scored an average of 15.6 points in the fourth quarter over their last six games. They have outscored their opponents 94-39 in the fourth quarter during that 5-1 stretch. Those clutch performances have led to a surge in confidence for Romo and company.

“Really, it’s just we’ve gotten to a point where we’re a mentally tough football team,” Romo said Wednesday. “In saying that, I believe when I step on the field in the fourth quarter, if we’re within 10-14 points, we’re going to find a way to win the ballgame.

“And we’ve been down, I don’t know, five times, six times this year and we’ve consistently come back and put ourselves in position. We’ve had a couple other ones where we could have come back in eight or nine of them, really. That’s just our mentality of what our football team believes late in football games. And that’s helped us.”

At the moment, it would be tough to argue with Romo. As we all know, however, none of that matters if the Cowboys miss the playoffs. And if they make the playoffs and fall on their faces yet again, it still doesn’t matter. Romo has been criticized for his play in the clutch throughout his entire career and has made plenty of poor decisions to warrant the criticism. At this point, the critics aren’t going to stand down until he leads Dallas to a Super Bowl.

H/T Pro Football Talk
Photo credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Martellus Bennett was a guest on “Good Day New York” on Tuesday, and the New York Giants tight end spent part of his appearance doing what he does best — taking shots at Tony Romo.

The show’s hosts had a football on set in light of Bennett’s appearance, and that’s what led to Bennett’s jab.

Co-host Dave Price threw the football across the set to weatherman Mike Woods, and his inaccurate throw bounced off the ground.

“Kinda looked like Tony Romo throwing that ball,” Bennett remarked.

When the show’s other co-host asked Bennett what he said, the tight end did not back down.

“I said he kinda looked like Tony Romo.”

Nothing else of note happened during Bennett’s time on set from what we could tell, but this is almost getting old from Martellus.

Bennett, who spent four seasons with the Cowboys, loves taking shots at his former QB. He seemed to take a jab at Romo in July, and we heard a similar story from an anonymous source in September. Now, a few days after calling Tony Romo a “great quarterback,” the true feelings again came out.

This just adds to the intrigue of Sunday’s game between the teams.

H/T The Dallas Cowboys Show