Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo a Hall of Famer? See 49ers’ Steve Young

Obviously, the answer to the question is not yet, however, Tony Romo is accumulating Cantonian numbers and has the high profile status as the Dallas Cowboys quarterback and leader of America’s Team.  Currently, he is missing an important, but not singularly important, piece from solidifying a Hall of Fame career: a Super Bowl win.  Oddly enough, the formula for how Tony can become the third Dallas Cowboys quarterback to be enshrined in the Hall behind Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman was made possible by nemisis San Francisco QB, Steve Young.

Yes, that Steve Young.  The San Francisco quarterback whose 1994 team, with Deion Sanders blanketing Michael Irvin during the NFC Championship Game, were the only thing standing between Dallas and a four-peat.  Yes, that NFC Championship game.  The one where a five-minute stretch in the 1^st quarter, beginning with a pick-six and culminating with two fumbles, gave the 49ers a 21-point lead they would never fully relinquish.  Sorry for that walk down memory lane, but it still hurts; back to Romo and the Hall of Fame.

Many people assume that winning a Super Bowl is key to having any hopes of a Hall of Fame career, but there’s more to it than that.  Super Bowl wins don’t make automatic Hall of Fame quarterbacks; just ask Ken Stabler, Joe Theismann, and Phil Simms.  Better yet, ask Jim Plunkett, who led the Oakland Raiders to wins in Super Bowl XV and XVIII, but has yet to be enshrined into the halls of Canton.  Each of these quarterbacks were great in many ways and had enough talent to take their respective teams to the ultimate team championship, however, they didn’t follow the formula.  Any quarterback who dreams of unveiling a bronze bust must check three very important blocks to be considered 1^st ballot material: 1. Be a Super Bowl winner (preferably with accompanying MVP). 2. Be the leader of a high profile franchise. 3.  Compile impressive career stats.

Starting with Dallas Cowboys GM, Jerry Jones, and ending with the youngest member of Cowboy Nation, the prevailing attitude is that Romo is in his prime, and we are a few acquisitions away from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.  Count me in the group who thinks the most important acquisition is already at Valley Ranch working 18 hour days, Jason Garrett.  Even with the moves the Cowboys made in free agency and the moves to come via the draft and trades, it still rests on the shoulders of Romo.  The year he masters (hopefully this year) those one or two moments during the season that have negatively defined him over the past seasons, he will enter some hallowed ground as a Super Bowl MVP of a high profile franchise while accumulating monster stats.

As much as fans love to tout their favorite players, and analysts on cable networks rank players based on their intangibles and other crucial ingredients, there is no way to get around having great stats.

Some of you may doubt my rationale of how close Romo is to being in the Hall of Fame discussion.  This is where we must parallel Romo’s career with that of a 1st ballot Hall of Famer, Steve Young.  The numbers are pretty compelling.

For the purposes of this argument, we are going to use age as a comparison between the two quarterbacks.  After a college career at Brigham Young, Steve Young began his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the age of 24, delayed by a stint in the now defunct United States Football League with the Los Angeles Express.  Romo began his career at the age of 24 as an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Illinois.

As much as 49ers fans, and apparently the Hall of Fame, like to ignore Young’s time in Tampa Bay, we will look at the entire truth.  Due to injuries, splitting time with other QB’s, and other reasons, neither Young nor Romo played the maximum number of games possible.  To make the sample sizes more comparable, we will look at the stats through the age of 33 for Young and 31 for Romo.  That equates to the first 87 starts for Young and the first 77 starts for Romo.

As the stats bear out, Romo is statistically on a very similar path to the Hall of Famer Young.  The one major difference is the last season used in this comparison, which was the year Young and the 49ers won Super Bowl XXIX.  This was very important for Young as it was the culmination of a journey to escape the shadow of Joe Montana, and is precisely where Romo has to step up.  Cowboys’ fans still have vivid memories of the triplets with Aikmen throwing lasers to Irvin, while Emmitt Smith did the dirty work.  With the help of Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, and Demarco Murray, the quadruplets can begin a new chapter of greatness for the Cowboys.

A 1000 different reporters could ask Romo about his potential to make the Hall of Fame, and he will always give the same answer: he only cares about wining a Super Bowl.   Fans, and the Cowboys brass for that matter, should be fine with that because it’s exactly what he’s supposed to say.  However, based on the path taken by Steve Young and the apparent path Romo is travelling, if he wins a Super Bowl, the rest will speak for itself.

Become part of the SportDFW nation. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter or contact us at therealsportdfw@gmail.com