Dallas Cowboys: Stop comparing Dak to Romo

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was a sensational signal caller and set several franchise records during his 13-year NFL career. And none of that has anything to do with Dak Prescott.

Being the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys is the most glamorous and scrutinized position in all of sports. The only other position that can come close to rivaling it is playing center fielder for the highly regarded New York Yankees.

The quarterback position is the toughest position to play in any sport, but when you’re the face of America’s team, you might as well be the POTUS (President of the United States).

The stakes are higher, the expectations are Super Bowl victories, and there is never any room for excuses. ABSOLUTELY NONE! NADA!

Instead of comparing Dak/Romo, how about comparing Jerry’s Super Bowl appearances to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft over the last two decades.

If you need any proof, just look at how the fans of Cowboys Nation go back and forth arguing about how much better former quarterback Tony Romo than current quarterback Dak Prescott.

Come on now, y’all know how it goes every Sunday afternoon during football season.

Cowboys fan # 1: “If Romo was the quarterback, he’d throw for 500 yards and six touchdowns against this sorry defense! Dak is wack! My goodness!”

Cowboys fan # 2: “Man let go of the past! Dak is clutch and is still learning the game! Romo was a choke artist! Get over it!”

Of course, that’s the PG version but you get the drift and you also probably noticed it’s going on in Cowboys Nation 365 days a year. But it’s a tired conversation and one we must put rest.

In reality, it’s time to stop comparing Dak to Romo. In fact, it’s long overdue to stop the bickering because Dallas has their franchise quarterback for many years to come and Dak has proven to his boss (Jerry Jones) he’s worth a big pay. Period.

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To compare Dak to Romo is like comparing Super Bowl winning and Hall of Fame signal callers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman to each other.

Staubach won the Heisman Trophy in 1963. Aikman was not born until 1966. Both of them played in different eras under different coaches, systems, and an entire supporting cast. So why compare them unless…drum roll…they have won at least a Super Bowl. They won a combined five Lombardi trophies.

And that’s the main reason not to compare Dak/Romo is because Romo never won a Super Bowl, let alone advance past the divisional round and play in an NFC Championship game. Plus, Romo only won two playoff games in his illustrious career.

To be frank, Romo shouldn’t be the standard bearer or the measuring stick for Dak’s success as Dallas’ quarterback. That should be Staubach and Aikman.

And as good as Romo played in Dallas, the former free agent from little Eastern Illinois could never complete the “Cinderella story” we all wanted for him.

As much I and others rooted for Romo (yes, I’m a fan), I felt like Romo always came up short for one reason or another. Whether it was the botched field goal snap in the 2006 playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks or bad coaching against the New York Giants in the 2007 divisional round playoffs, something always went wrong.

Also, there were the “oh no” interceptions in critical moments in must-win games.

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I know it’s hard to believe but Romo joined Dallas at a time when it was up and coming and reaching its full potential. Hall of Famer head coach Bill Parcells was leading the way, shaping the team in his image, and the team had offensive weapons galore.

Remember when Dallas had newly Hall of Fame inductee receiver Terrell Owens, the late Terry Glenn, Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin, Sam Hurd, Jason Witten, along with running backs Julius Jones and Marion Barber rounding out the high octane offense?

Man oh man. That’s a lot of talent.

Further, Romo had the pleasure of sitting on the bench for three and half seasons soaking up knowledge and playing nearly every down in preseason as the backup quarterback.

Dak, on the other hand, was thrown to the wolves like the lost sheep in an episode of “The Wild Kingdom”.

Dak was a fourth rounder and seen as nothing more than a project behind Romo. With an outstanding preseason under his belt, Dak saw his first action as Dallas’ signal caller when Romo injured his lower back keeping him out several games.

Dak had to learn on the fly, make rookie mistakes, listen to Jerry constantly praise Romo as the starter, receive little to no coaching from head coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, and play under pressure as America’s Team quarterback.

Despite all of the pressure, Dak led Dallas to a 13-3 record, an NFC East crown, and a first round bye. In the Green Bay Packers playoff loss, Dak rallied Dallas back from a 21-3 deficit only to lose because of Aaron Rodgers outstanding pass to Jared Cook to put the Packers in position to win the game.

After a sub-par sophomore season, Dak led the 2018 Dallas team to its second divisional title in three years, its first playoff win since 2014, and a bright future to boot as a clutch quarterback.