You know, there’s been a lot of talk about Brett Favre and what his departure means.
Brett was an excellent player. Can’t say I enjoyed watching him play because I’m not a Packer fan. I did enjoy watching him tear the Raiders a new one after his father passed though. That was a sad yet memorable moment. Can’t imagine I’d want to do anything after my dad died. Namely play a football game in Oakland. But he did it and did it well.
I bring up Favre because the media has an illicit love affair with him. It’s kinda creepy. If Mary could dump Brett Fav-Rah so can reporters. But that’s not going to happen.
The biggest stalker in my opinion? John Madden. He loves him some Favre as seen here.
Again, what does this have to do with the ‘Boys? Ok. I’m getting to that.
In my humble opinion, I believe there’s no other player, right now, closer to embodying that type of mass euphoria Favre generated among media folk than our own Antonio Ramiro Romo. I hear the comparisons all the time from pundits on ESPN and the like. He enjoys the game. He likes to have fun. He acts like a big kid sometimes and he’s a spectacular QB. He’s like a Favre Mini-Me in many ways.
So here’s my theory.
As the road starts to get lonely, and Madden begins to miss that good love that only a fistpumpin’ Favre can provide, he’s going to start looking around and weighing his options. And I believe that he’ll transfer his mancrush from Favre onto Romo. And like those annoying seagulls in "Finding Nemo" that keep yelling "mine mine mine!" the media will follow. And the next thing you know, we’ll be hearing all about his childhood, the passion he brings to the game and other crap fans who are trying to enjoy the game really don’t care about. Hopefully he’ll avoid drawing inappropriate things on the telestrator when doing so. But this just adds to my theory.
We’ve already seen it. The MSM (mainstream media) is already over Romo like a cheap suit. He wasn’t drafted. It seemed like he came out of nowhere. He played well. He started courting Hollywood actresses left and right and then the doo doo really hit the fan when Jessica jumped on board.
But there’s a difference between a good story and media adulation. Romo was interesting. Favre was endearing. Not my opinion. But the opinion of many who sit in front of the camera and wax poetic about the state of the game.
May not be next season or the next. Maybe it won’t happen until Romo wins a Super Bowl. That tends to give you a free pass. It did for Favre, who threw critical interception after interception in the second half of his career.
But I can see it coming. And maybe the goodwill that comes from the media falling all over themselves over Romo can help to curb some of the vitriolic anti-Cowboy hatred spewed by some. I don’t have any illusions that Skip Bayless or Eric Allen will decline their invitation to the Haters Ball when it comes to the Cowboys. Romo’s playoff struggles have only fed into that sentiment. But I do think Romo’s status as an elite quarterback – and what his wholesomeness represents – could help to erase a decade of bad vibes created by the bad old days of fur coats, cocaine and prostitutes.
As I write this I’m thinking of all the reasons why it’s crazy to write this. Cowboy hatred isn’t going away anytime soon. We’ve been way too successful to not be subject to jealousy and we’ve rubbed way too many people the wrong way to expect forgiveness now. As far as how good-natured Romo’s off-the-field activities seem, he’s no more family-friendly than Kobe Bryant once seemed.
Guess my point is, Romo has the capacity to be a transformational figure for the Cowboys like Favre. I joke about the media and their affection for Favre but it’s real. Similar emotions can be seen in Romo’s interaction with the media. Time will fill in this narrative. Favre, along with Reggie White, was kind of seen as the guy to put a starving Green Bay franchise back on the map while reminding us of what we’ve always liked about sports. Who knows what Romo’s story will be.
Whatever it is, I got money on Madden being there, offering much praise to our boy. Just like his first love: Brett Favre.
T. Romo continues to live the American Dream and challenge for the title of having "The Coolest Life on the Planet." Seriously. He’s the starting QB for the Cowboys, he bags Hollywood starlets and he’s pretty damn good at golf.
He’s golf game will be on display at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. His participation was confirmed by the tournament director.
Have fun, homie. Don’t injure yourself, don’t lift any heavy objects and call it day if you start to get winded.
We’ve got a ring to win next year.
New installation in Ray Buck’s Old Boys Club series. This time he looks at the Cowboys first win in ’61 against the Steelers at the Cotton Bowl. Dallas needed to score 10 points in less than a minute.
The article’s main protagonist is Jerry Tubbs who went from experiencing a good deal of the 47-game winning streak at the University of Oklahoma in the ‘50s to a winless first season with the Cowboys. He didn’t even want to come at first.
Playing/working for Tom Landry would prove to be heaven on earth — but Tubbs had no idea of that in 1960.
He never lost a game in college. Now he would be joining an expansion team that wouldn’t win a game all season. The ’60 Cowboys ended up 0-11-1.
"It looked like we were never going to win a game," Tubbs recalled.
The closest they came was a 31-31 tie at New York in the next-to-last game of that inaugural season.
The story details some Cowboy history, gives props to Tom Landry and talks about a Steeler loss. What more could you want? Somewhere Hank Hill is beaming with pride over this story.
Another mock draft. They’re like filling out brackets before the NCAA Tournament or rice krispie treats. Can’t get enough of ‘em.
This one has us taking two CBs: Aqib Talib and Antoine Cason. I’m not as current on all the mock drafts as I should be, but this seems to be unique because it has us taking two cornerbacks instead of Felix Jones or Malcolm Kelly or another offensive player. I’m fine with that if it indeed happens.
NBCSports.com Steve Silverman has this to say about Talib and Cason:
Talib was a standout performer for the Jayhawks as he was always around the ball and is a very solid tackler. Talib excels in coverage and is a natural leader who will demonstrate that can back up his talk. Jerry Jones may still want to put together a package so he can move up, but don’t expect it to be for Darren McFadden. He also likes Sedrick Ellis and Derrick Harvey.
Cason is a solid athlete and an excellent competitor. He is physical and can deliver a solid blow at the line of scrimmage to knock receivers off stride. He has excellent coverage technique, but ultraquick wideouts give him problems.