OXNARD, Calif. - No matter what you think, what others might want you to think, Romo's still Romo.
Maybe I'm naïve, having now been around him for the better part of 5½ years, but to me, he's the same smiling kid he was when he arrived at The Ranch in 2003. The long shot, relatively unknown and undrafted quarterback from Eastern Illinois who to most of us was no more than a camp body - just another live arm to help facilitate those grueling weeks of training camp.
Now, he was aware back then, not cocky, but surprisingly confident of himself on and off the field. And, he possessed this certain something which made you want to sit and chew the fat with him, even though you knew he didn't have a chance in hell of getting on the field or maybe of even making the team.
That did not change his first few years here as other quarterbacks with supposedly better pedigrees and certainly much better contracts fell by the wayside. There goes Chad Hutchinson and Clint Stoerner. Then Quincy Carter, in fact, right here on these very same Residence Inn grounds. Just a week or so into the 2004 camp, the scene burned in my mind, Carter walking out to his get-away ride eating a bowl of cereal.
Romo didn't mind breaking down plays for you, talking offensive philosophy, filling you with info only those privileged to have ever commanded a huddle would know.
And there would be those times he would playfully send out a few digs, especially to me, since I had never seen much of anything those first couple of years to suggest he'd ever be a starting quarterback in the NFL, much less a Pro Bowl quarterback.
He'd say stuff like, "Even if Mickey doesn't think so," and do so without even looking up. Cute, real cute.
And as we moved along, more quarterbacks fell by the wayside. Vinny Testaverde, then Drew Henson.
Then Drew Bledsoe.
Through that entire gaggle of hopefuls, maybes and retreads, Romo turned out to be the last man throwing with a blue star on his helmet. During his 14-minute, 12-second session with the media here on Friday after the Cowboys first training camp practice in pads, as we stood on the flat-bed cart next to each other, these thoughts came flooding back.
You see Romo playing golf. I see him getting in more workouts at The Ranch than prescribed.
You see Romo on TMZ, or as he playfully said when asked about that on Saturday, "T-M-what?" along with what's her name. I see him with his mom and dad after a game, talking in the underbelly of a stadium or jumping into a car together at Texas Stadium.
You see him being caught on video for YouTube singing karaoke, and probably badly, yet doing what others of us have done during those first 25 to 28 years. Then I see him here on Saturday after practice, after the 14-minute interview, moving about 30 yards down one fence around the practice field signing autographs for people lined up two deep, then making a left and going about 20 yards up-field in the three-to-four-deep contingent continuing to sign with practice now having been over for close to 30 minutes.
That Tony Romo, from Burlington, Wis., seemed no different than the one who so delicately handled that ground swell of support for the fourth-year quarterback to replace Bledsoe right here on these very football grounds.
"That's a fair assessment," said Cowboys wide receiver Patrick Crayton, who has been here with Romo for all but his rookie season. "Now he has a little more notoriety, so some things change. You know, Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Pro Bowl quarterback. So, some things you have to adjust.
"But I think he's handled it pretty well."
Better than most would ever know.
And Romo knows the score. He knows in this day and age of the internet, gossip columns, talk radio and gossip magazines that perceptions will grow, no matter how false they might be.
That's part of the job, being able to not only handle the Giants blitz, but also the media and public blitz. And to me, he's been able to develop this ability to say what he wants to say without ever blowing his cool.
In fact, you almost forget Romo has only started 24 NFL regular-season games. That's less than two full seasons. He has watched more than he's played, but evidently watched and listened well.
"Most people only know what they read about you," said Romo as we walked along the fence with the fans shouting for his attention, the distinct smell of Sharpies in the air. "If they got to know you or knew you before or knew what your friends knew about you, they would think differently of you."
Some of these golf tournaments Romo has played in of late have brought him in touch with athletes such as Michael Jordan.
Romo's curiosity causes him to pick their minds, and they seemingly tell him to stubbornly be yourself.
"They used to say Michael Jordan couldn't win a title if he wins the scoring title," Romo remembered, "and then all you have to do is win one and they quick talking about it."
So to me, the Cowboys are extremely lucky to have such a level-headed leader with the presence of mind to understand the huge responsibility he has as quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys - not to be compared to being the quarterback of, say, the Buffalo Bills - yet still enjoy enough of his life not to become totally imprisoned by his own sudden fame.
And if you just stop a moment to listen to what he says, bury those perceptions raised by others, and judge for yourself, you might think differently. Take Saturday, for example.
When asked about how he would challenge himself personally this year, Romo said, "I think if you don't look at your weaknesses and try to improve upon them, then you're just selling yourself short. That's what I've always tried to do, just find out what I need to get better at and go out there and bust my butt and do it."
When asked about how much better he thinks he can get, Romo said, "I'd like to think I've got a lot of room for improvement. Saying that, I've had some success, but I think once you think that you've either arrived or think you've reached your potential, you're destined for not going much farther. One thing I've been able to do in my career has been able to look at myself from a realistic point of view and say, 'All right, what do I need to do to get better? What do I need to do to improve?'"
When asked, rather delicately I might add, if essentially the big-head syndrome struck this team at the end of last season, Romo said, "No, the biggest overrated things that media and sports and all the people talk about are A) the locker-room and B) everyone thinks, 'Oh, they got ahead of themselves.' The games are too important and everything is too big. It's the game. It's that day, it's if they do something better than you did on that specific day. Scheme, players, they all have something to do with all this.
"All you can do as an athlete and as a team is put yourself in those situations over and over again and eventually figure out a way to do it. And when that happens, you'll probably be better the next time. But there's no secret to success, there's no perfect formula that says they didn't do this last year or they didn't want it bad enough. But guys don't just get in this situation; you don't become a Jason Witten or Terrell Owens or these guys without having that desire every time you step out there. It's just part of the deal . . . but we just have to keep putting ourselves in those situations and when we break through, I think we'll be pretty good for a long time."
And when asked if he has become more guarded in his personal life, Romo said, "Realistically, I still do the same things I've been doing the last 5-10 years. Really nothing has changed, it's just more people talk about it now. I still play in golf tournaments in the off-season; done that forever. I still sing when there's good music on, I've been doing that forever.
"I think you sometimes watch certain things you may do because you'd not want kids to get the wrong impression. Things like that, I guess you do get looked up to by certain areas. I have a watchful eye out for certain things."
But here is the bottom line if still you are worried about Romo's dedication, his work ethic or his devotion to this team: the Cowboys certainly would not have signed him to a $67.5 million extension had they been worried about this kid's character, on or off the field. As Terry Glenn found out the hard way, Jones doesn't just senselessly throw his money around.
And then there is this, and this to me is big. When I asked head coach Wade Phillips if he felt fortunate not losing sleep over his starting quarterback, he said, "Yeah," as if I had lost my mind for even asking, but followed up with, "I've been lucky to be around [John] Elway and Jim Kelly. Guys like that you don't have to worry about them - working out and doing the right thing and saying the right things."
And Romo's like that?
"Oh yeah," Phillips said.
Sweet music to your ears.
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Mickey Spagnola - 
