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 So with the news of Tony Romo breaking up with Jessica Simpson surfacing today, I can't help but think about how easily perception becomes reality for professional athletes (or really any celebrity) in the spotlight. Romo has been the proverbial king of the regular season. With big numbers in each of the last 2 seasons despite fading down the stretch, Romo has proven he can compete among the best quarterbacks in the league. Yet despite all this, Romo has more than his fair share of critics, many of which point to, in the famous words of Bill Parcells, him being a "celebrity quarterback". Having dated Carrie Underwood and Jessica Simpson since becoming the starter for the Dallas Cowboys, Romo has been often criticized, citing the girlfriends as the reason for poor play after a bad game.
One would think the world had ended when, during the bye week before a playoff game in 2007, Romo and Simpson, along with a few other often unmentioned Cowboys players such as Jason Witten, took a mini-vacation in Mexico. Leading up to the playoff mathcup with the Giants, all the talk centered around how Romo was unfocused and unmotivated. Yet when gametime rolled around, Romo was a few dropped passes, stopped routes, and a muffed punt away from leading the Cowboys to their first playoff victory in over a decade. Even still, the talk centered on the vacation and how Simpson had him unfocused. Further fan outrage ensued when Romo (insert horrible gasp here) played golf in the offseason. The rest of the world is allowed to play golf, but heaven forbid a professional athlete do so during their off time. To me, all the talk is just that: talk, and nothing more. The notion that Tony Romo’s romantic interests have been any sort of cause for poor play is almost surely absurd, and I'm sure I'll be upsetting many Cowboys fans by saying so. I’ll repeat: the idea is ridiculous, and sports fans, especially Cowboys fans, should just stop with the “Thank God he broke up with her” talk. As I've said before, fans lack perspective, and often reach for the most intangible aspect to explain why their team didn't meet expectations. After a tough loss despite high expectations, mindless rationalization becomes the blame game with fingers pointed in all the wrong directions. The fact is, the team didn't get it done on the field for whatever reason (in this case some poorly executed routes, dropped passes, blown assignments, to name a few). Call me crazy, hate me, whatever, but I can guarantee at the end of the day I can provide you with some backup information; I can explain why this game of perception really only matters in the media. My example? Pay close attention: Tom Brady.  Brady is the perfect counter-example (at least with perception) to Romo. Brady, who also has excelled in the regular season, has also had his fair share of postseason success, with 3 Super Bowl rings (and merely a miracle catch by David Tyree away from a 4th). If one didn't know better, they would say Brady keeps a low profile. Using this rationale, however, would just be wrong. Brady has been the epitome of a celebrity athlete, from being on the cover of GQ, to dating (and fathering a child with) actress Bridget Moynahan, and even marrying supermodel Gisele Bundchen. Yet even with the stardom, Brady has mostly managed to keep away from undue criticism because he is seen as a winner. With his 3 Super Bowl rings, he has, in the mind of many fans and the media, earned a pass from such criticism. That being said, sure, Tony Romo will have to “earn his stripes” so to speak, but I can guarantee Romo’s relationship is no more of a distraction than Brady’s supermodel wife.
Fans just need to remember that what you love about Tony Romo is also what you end up hating. He doesn’t cave in to conventional means of dealing with pressure. In 2007, the team played an overall terrible game against the Buffalo Bills. Romo had thrown 5 interceptions (although I will say at least 2 were the fault of Jason Witten) and lost a fumble. But in the end, Romo threw for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns and led a drive down the field to put the Cowboys in position to win (which they did after Nick Folk made a 53-yard field goal… twice). How, after such a terrible game, was Romo able to keep it together to be the leader the Cowboys needed him to be? He kept his cool. He moved on after each turnover and just played his game. It’s the same reason fans can’t understand how Romo was so cool after a 44-6 drubbing by the Philadelphia Eagles to close out their 2008 season (with a playoff spot on the line nonetheless). Romo is the same guy he has always been. I still remember watching a preseason game (yes I know they really don’t matter) in 2004 when the Cowboys played the Raiders. It was that day that Romo led his first comeback drive. After driving down the field, and being stopped short of the goal line, Romo ran to the line, signaling to the team to spike the ball. When he received the snap, however, he lunged into the end zone and gave the Cowboys a last-second 21-20 win. That day, I immediately felt Romo would be the future quarterback of the Cowboys. It was his cool head that allowed him to make the split decision, yet the same cool head that allows him to throw those “what is he thinking?” interceptions. So fans, you take what you can get, and I can guarantee Romo is still among the top 3 QB’s in the league leading up to this season. He may not have won a playoff game yet, but didn’t Peyton Manning hear the same story until he finally won his ring after the 2006 season? Even Eli Manning, who hasn’t ever put up great numbers, gets heralded among the top in league because he has a ring. That, my friends, is why winning always changes perceptions. After all, perception is indeed often times reality.
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