Tony Romo pays $9,000 to attend OTA's

 

This one is for BTB-regular Terry, tireless defender of all things Romo and any insinuation that he has gone Hollywood.

It cost Dallas QB Tony Romo $9,000 to withdraw from the Colonial Pro-Am on Wednesday so he wouldn't miss one of the Cowboys "voluntary" organized team activities. Romo had agreed to play in the Colonial event well before he knew there would be a scheduling conflict with what was essentially a 7-on-7 drill, and could have gotten away with not showing up. Because he's totally committed to being the best QB he can be, and wants to be viewed as a team leader, Romo pulled the plug on the golf. It cost him $9,000 because that's how much somebody paid in an auction to play with him in the Pro-Am. With the money targeted for Cook Children's Hospital, Romo wrote a check to the guy who bought him

If only Roy Williams could cover receivers like the media has covered Roy Williams over the last couple of weeks. Matt Mosley dedicates a column to the Story of Roy, a never-ending saga of confusion. I say confusion because no one can quite pin down what’s going on with Roy. Mosley’s article posits this scenario.

• Roy wasn’t much on defensive theory and the playbook coming out of college, but the Cowboys didn’t care because Darren Woodson was back there. Indeed, Woodson confirms in the article that they kept it very simple for Roy - go downhill and crush people. No learning the CB coverage schemes, or the linebacker gaps, just be a hitter. After Woodson’s departure Roy’s play started an uneven decline that now has some wondering about his future in Dallas. His thin-skin led to an icy relationship with the press and now he is even avoiding his teammates. The Cowboys are keeping him for this year, but all bets are off after that.

That’s about how Mosley sees it but with a lot of detail added in, you should read the whole thing.

My thoughts on Roy have mostly fallen under a broad category of "he’s never been as good as his reputations was, and he’s not as bad as his reputation is."

For me, it’s very simple with Roy, if he’s hitting people, causing havoc, creating turnovers and negative plays, then I can live with his short-comings in coverage. Run support from a strong safety is also important to me and I think Roy is good in that department, although he was better before.

Are we paying too much for a guy that we need to protect sometimes on defense? Probably. Do we have better alternatives right now? I don’t think so, Pat Watkins and Courtney Brown are not better full-time options in my opinion. Is it possible that this is Roy’s last season in Dallas? Yes, if he fails to be a playmaker again this year, then it could happen. Roy has to become a force on defense again, not merely a guy who racks up tackles. If he’s going to be a liability in coverage that needs protecting, then he’s got to compensate for it by making big plays through intimidation, turnovers and negative yardage plays.

Brian Stewart thinks curing Roy of the horse-collar would go a long way.

"In breaking down the film, he's done a lot more good than bad," Stewart said. "He's very capable of doing everything we ask him to do. I believe he had 100 tackles, and that's a busy guy. If we can get him to stop horse-collaring guys, I think he's very, very capable of playing at a high level in our system."

OK, I’m Roy’d-out for the moment.

Brett Favre is going to attend camp! OK, it’s only a kid’s football camp over the summer. But what a good camp for the kids, the three stars will be Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and Jason Witten. Nice. And is it just me or does Witten participate in every charity event and every football camp known to man.

At the risk of kicking off a Parcells bashing thread, I bring you this article from Miami. The main meat of the article is about the way Zach Thomas left the Dolphins and the way that Jason Taylor may leave. Of course, Zach ended up here. The author suggests that if Taylor leaves as unceremoniously as Thomas did, then its owner Wayne Huizenga’s fault for not stepping in. Not to stop a possible departure of Taylor, but stepping in to at least give it some dignity. And where does he go for an example? To none other than Jerry Jones and Emmitt Smith.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stepped in and made sure Smith left respectfully. Jones said he would ''always see the star on Emmitt's helmet'' and that Smith would be welcome to return in some capacity after his playing days.

The decision, one that benefited Smith and the team he loved, was made after several individual meetings between Smith and Jones. And today, a retired Smith is offering advice to new Cowboys running back Felix Jones.

It's an act Huizenga can at least attempt to duplicate.

Jerry is lending his support to New Orleans for a Super Bowl hosting bid in 2013.

The Breerman with a short take on the new defensive coaches and Brian Stewart getting on the same page.