I can't say I frequent the Dallas Morning News (particularly because I live in New York and Japan), but a recent piece by Jon Machota caught my attention (read: was emailed to me by Tom).
The headline, "Chris Canty: Tony Romo the reason Cowboys haven't had same success as Giants," looked to be a link to some direct Romo-hate courtesy of our very own turncoat Defensive Lineman.
"At the end of the day, in the clutch situations, he hasn’t performed as well as you would like him to. I think ultimately, that’s been the difference between their franchise and the Giants ability to be successful."
More after the jump...
Wow. Essentially, Canty is saying that the only reason our franchise, the Dallas Cowboys, is not as successful as the New-York-Jersey Giants, is the quarterback play of Tony Romo in "clutch situations." This is from a division rival that faces Romo twice yearly (and who was a part of the divided locker room early in Romo's career), so it must be accurate, right?
Or perhaps, since he's regurgitating ESPN memes, players just aren't very good at evaluating other players. Look no further than the NFL Top 100 list (reportedly chosen by the players) and the Pro Bowl rosters (one third based on player votes) for evidence of this. It isn't limited to football players either. Have a look at what Michael Jordan's been doing with the Charlotte Bobcats (counterpoint - Larry Bird and the Indiana Pacers).
This is why, despite prefacing his statements with this:
"Romo's a tremendous quarterback, statistically he's a top five quarterback, that's undeniable."
He still ends up saying this:
"Obviously, if you want to enjoy some of the benefits of being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, you got to perform like it on the field. Thus far, he hasn't has the success that the fans and his teammates have hoped for."
Statistically (and that means performance on the football field), he is a top five quarterback. Number four, last I checked. And yet he hasn't had success, and that's only because of his performance in "clutch situations."
By the way, "clutch" is intangible unless it's between your transmission and flywheel (or a handbag, or the act of holding something tightly...). Intangible is synonymous with immaterial, which in turn means inconsequential. Those inconsequential situations are all that are holding us back.
What do you think, BTB?