Despite the consistent playoff struggles, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo came out and said his former team is “so close” to breaking through. The last Super Bowl for the franchise came in 1995, a drought spanning nearly three decades. Losing in the Wild Card round to Green Bay may be the biggest disappointment of them all though, falling flat on their face at home.
Even so, Romo believes the Cowboys can get over the hump, citing the mental aspect of it all. Not everybody agrees with his assessment though. Particularly ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith who put Romo on blast recently.
“If I saw you to your face, I would shake your hand because I got a lot of love for you as a person,” Smith said. “What the hell is wrong with you? You, of all people. When he was the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, you didn’t get the job done. What are you talking about? ‘At some point, we’re going to break through.’ You that ‘some point.’ You once were. You didn’t get it done.”
Multiple infamous moments are attached to Romo’s name in the playoffs. People in Dallas will never forget the botched snap in Seattle, sending the Cowboys home in the Divisional Round. And then there is the “Dez Caught It” game in 2014.
Romo has not been the only former Cowboys star to speak on the franchise’s loss to Green Bay. Former running back Emmitt Smith, with was there for Dallas’ great run in the 1990s, said Mike McCarthy would have been fired if he was the GM. You can tell how upset Smith is when talking about the shortcomings.
That’s the type of player Smith is comfortable with calling what Romo said. Smith believes some “self-awareness” is needed from the former quarterback.
“People who don’t get it done, don’t need to be talking about people getting it done,” Smith said. “Now, Emmitt Smith got it done. So, he can stand up there and say ‘This is embarrassing.’ Jimmy Johnson, he knows what the hell he’s talking about. It makes sense, I get that stuff. But Tony Romo? What? You can’t say that. At some point in time, some self-awareness is mandated.”
At least in the McCarthy era, we will maybe only have one more opportunity to see how close Dallas is. The Cowboys are going “all-in” on the 2024 season, hoping to win a Super Bowl with McCarthy and Dak Prescott. Otherwise, a huge reset button may be hit and “so close” might turn into “so far.”
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