Romo a top QB?

Slimdust

When it comes to analyzing great quarterbacks, there aren't many who do it better than Troy Aikman. After all, he was one for more than a decade.

So when Aikman is ready to put another quarterback into the category of "great," it carries more weight than the average guy.

And on the subject of Tony Romo, Aikman has simply seen enough.

The Cowboys Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor legend was at Valley Ranch on Thursday and will call Sunday's game between the Cowboys and Lions (noon, CST) for Fox. Aikman spoke on several NFL topics, but the conversation kept going back to Romo.

Not only is Aikman ready to place the greatness tag on Romo, but he doesn't understand why Romo's name isn't mentioned more with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

"Over the last several weeks, there's always the debate - who do you take, Brady or Manning?" Aikman said. "Then they start saying clearly, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are the top quarterbacks and then next is . . . but somewhere in there is Romo, but we're not ready to put him there just yet. Well, why aren't you? No, really, why is anyone reluctant to put Romo up there with those guys?

"He's playing (at) as good a level as anyone in the league. Granted, you have to do it over a period of time. I get that part. But he's a terrific player."

Romo is having an even better season. In fact, he's on pace to have the best season in Cowboys history, as far as statistics.


One might argue that a season should only be judged on the outcome at the end, but even Aikman said it's hard to argue with what Romo is doing this season. He has already shattered Danny White's single-season touchdown record of 29, piling up 33 touchdowns with four games still left.

Romo needs 629 yards to pass White's single-season mark of 3,980 yards set in 1983. And Romo's current quarterback rating of 107.2 might just hold up as the best in franchise history, beating out Roger Staubach's 104.8 rating in 1971. Romo also passed the Cowboys' single-season record of 300-yard passing games in a season (six) back in October. The previous mark was three, held by six different quarterbacks.

Most important, Aikman said he doesn't expect the Cowboys to lose another game in the regular season, which would give them an unprecedented 15-1 record. The Cowboys have never finished better than their 13-3 record in 1992, Aikman's first of three Super Bowl seasons in a four-year span.

All the signs point to Romo having the best season of any Cowboys quarterback.

And Aikman certainly wasn't going to disagree.

"Well, I think that you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that, right?" Aikman said. "I would say it's by far the best any quarterback has had. Now I understand that for those who would argue against it, they would say the season's not over. But I think if you just look at a season for a quarterback, that I think without question it's the best year.

"Now I know Tony is the first to say it would be somewhat unsatisfying were we not able to finish if off and win a Super Bowl. But I think if you put two of my best years together it wouldn't come up with the numbers he's going to have at the end of the season. Unless Roger has a beef with it . . . I mean, I certainly don't."

Aikman also said Romo is having an MVP-type season, though he knows it won't happen because of what Brady is doing in New England.

"The thing that's disappointing is that I think Brady wins the MVP hands down," Aikman said. "But in any other year, (Romo) runs away with it. What he has done in most years that is as good or better than anyone who has won the league MVP. Yet in a year when Brady is just off the charts, it's probably not going to happen for him. That's disappointing because I think he is going to continue to have great years, but this is a really special year."

Not even Aikman would admit he expected Romo to be this good, this early in his career.

But having called many Cowboys games over the last five years, Aikman often comes out to practice here at Valley Ranch as he did Thursday. And he recalled being amazed at Romo's talent from the very start.

"I remember watching him in practice and I couldn't believe he was an undrafted free agent," Aikman said. "I watched him and I thought he had all the tools. He got back from center well, he got the ball out, he had a good release, he seemed to be very athletic within the pocket.

"I had a chance to meet him his rookie year - just happened to run into him at a restaurant in town - and I thought he had great charisma. He had a real presence about him. And then you wonder, 'Well, can it happen on Sundays? What happens when he gets into the games?' That was the only real question mark to me. And he answered that pretty early.

"I don't know how everybody else feels, but I know when I watch him play, and there's some other quarterbacks that are like this in the league, you always feel like he's going to make a play. You always feel like regardless of what the situation is, he's going to make a play that's going to get it done for the team."

While their playing styles might not have been exactly the same, their superstar status isn't too different.

Romo wasn't the No. 1 overall pick that Aikman was in 1989, but his popularity is steadily growing by the day.

Speaking from experience, Aikman said being the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys isn't always an easy job, especially off the field.

"As the quarterback, he's the glamour boy. He's the cover boy for this franchise and so he has a chance to meet a lot of various people," Aikman said with a smile, and a somewhat tongue-and-cheek reference to the latest reports that have linked Romo to singer/actress Jessica Simpson. "Some guys, no matter how good they are, just don't get those opportunities. Sometimes there are little petty jealousies that come with that. I think being able to properly handle all that and conduct yourself in a manner to where everyone within your organization knows you're on board with them, I think that's sometimes challenging and for others it comes very naturally. My guess is from what I have seen, it comes very natural for Tony."

When he was playing, it all seemed to come pretty natural for Aikman, too.

Whether or not Romo ever gets to that level remains to be seen. But he certainly received a ringing endorsement on Thursday from someone who definitely has been in his shoes.

dallascowboys.com

Suntan Superman

WC's Resident Samoan

Nope, I won't label him a great QB. Carson Palmer was a great QB, how's he doing now? And really Aikman? You can't figure it out? Too many concussions? It's this thing fans like to see in great players... consistency. I'd hardly say 1 1/2 good years makes Tony Romo "great" not saying he won't ever be great, but to say he's on the same level as Manning/Brady is absurd

Joe Cool

Administrator

The fact that this article was on cowboys.com makes a little more than bias.

Romo is good, but needs time to grow and get the experience that Manning and Brady have before he's even close to being great.

Sorry but I agree with Mike.

Inogenius

Exactly, along the same lines at Romo people could almost label Derek Anderson is a great QB. Is he though? No, he's hardly average IMO.

Greatness is built up over years, not over a few seasons. Manning & Brady have consistency under their belt; they're proven performers. Romo's record cannot say that.

Could he become great? He's certainly on his way, but to call him great before 2009 is just a mistake.

Freak

I agree with the last three posters. That article was beyond ludicrous.

Randy Orton

WC's Resident Alchoholic

I agree. Romo is Homo. Tom BradY Is the CCCCCCCCCCCCCHIEF OF ALL QB'S.