finished with a 95.1 QB rating in his first 12 NFL appearances. No matter he added some pizzaz to the offense and hope for the future. He, in many a minds, already has become yesterday's darling.
Brady, Brady, he's our man . . . .
Man, hope you guys don't go through marriages the way you want to go through quarterbacks. That could get expensive.
Now I understand, I really do, the attraction, because it's only the second time since Troy Aikman last played in 2000 the Cowboys had a chance to draft a legitimate top-rated quarterback in the first round. They passed the first time in 2003, choosing to stick with Quincy Carter's development and take Terence Newman at No. 5 instead of Leftwich, whom the Jaguars grabbed two picks later.
And I understand the what-if worries, as in, what if Romo is not the real deal? Then what? As Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would say, that's fair.
But at some point, don't you have to find out? Don't you have to totally commitment to someone after floating in this quarterback abyss for the past six years? Don't you have to divorce yourself from this maddening next-guy syndrome? Don't you have to trust your player evaluations?
A hockey guy once jokingly compared turnovers to wives: The more you have, the more they cost. Same with quarterbacks, no?
Now a bunch of you have said, why is this different than in 1989 when the Cowboys selected Troy Aikman with the first pick in the draft and then doubled up a few months later when using the first pick in the 1990 draft to select Steve Walsh in the supplemental draft? Didn't they cover themselves then?
Yeah, well, but they soon discovered they had to commit to one guy, that having two groomers around like that was nothing but trouble, and in 1990, the first chance the Cowboys got, they traded Walsh to New Orleans, and committed to Aikman.
Which is followed up with, yeah, but that worked out, too, the Cowboys turning what was a first-round pick in 1990 into a first, second and third when they traded Walsh. Correct, but that was pre-salary cap, and nowadays, teams would hold you hostage in a trade, knowing they are doing you a favor trading for an unproven quarterback with a high salary.
I mean, what do you think the Packers can get for Aaron Rodgers right now? Not the first in return. (By the way, that double-up move cost the Cowboys the first pick in the 1990 draft, and probably either Cortez Kennedy or Junior Seau, assuming they were wise enough to stay away from Blair Thomas.)
Maybe it's just me, but frankly I think you should applaud the Cowboys for staying put at quarterback- for a change. Can't keep volleying from Tony Banks to Quincy Carter to Anthony Wright to Clint Stoerner to Ryan Leaf to Carter to Chad Hutchinson to Carter to Vinny Testaverde to Drew Henson to Drew Bledsoe to Romo to . . . .
If you pull the plug on Romo now by drafting Quinn, especially when you could be on the verge of cashing in, then you are effectively admitting the past six-year search for a quarterback without spending a first-round draft choice or a $15 million signing bonus was foolish. That you just wasted your time - and the fans' time.
No, the Cowboys just got to see Romo through, and since he's on the final year of his contract, obviously this will be the key year, and then we'll all know what he is after his fifth year in the league. And don't think Jones was just sitting up in some ivory tower deciding to go with Romo before this draft even began. Guarantee you he canvassed Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett and Wade Wilson and Jeff Ireland and Brian Gaine and anyone else pulling down a check over there in scouting. Guarantee you he got Bill Parcells' input during an exit interview. Guarantee you he picked Norv Turner's brain during his head coach interview. And there is no telling who else Jerry called to help assess Romo's future after just 10 regular-season games.
Good thing he didn't call some of you guys to assess Aikman after his first 11 starts. He went 0-11. He would have become someone else's Hall of Famer.
As my grandfather would say in his broken English, "Pa-chance." He meant patience. That's what I mean, patience.
If they are wrong, they are wrong. But even if
