Romo to the Booth

Written by Sam DeCoste

The fate of Tony Romo was by far the most popular story of the offseason. For long, the debate was could Romo stay in Dallas, or go to another NFL franchise. Perhaps he would go to Denver, or Kansas City, or Houston, or Buffalo, or Chicago, or New York. But ultimately, the debate came down to CBS, or FOX.

On Tuesday, Tony Romo announced he will be retiring from the NFL after 14 seasons to take up a spot as the lead color commentator on CBS alongside Jim Nantz in the booth. Romo will turn 37 years old on April 21st, and he will retire as the leader in Cowboys franchise history in terms of passing yards, passing touchdowns, and passer rating, and will retire holding the fourth best passer rating in NFL history. 

Romo will be replacing Phil Simms, who was the lead commentator for CBS since 1998. 

For many, including myself, the decision for Romo to retire was shocking. Romo clearly showed us that he still had the competitive desire to play again. Before the season, Romo saw the great potential in the 2016 Dallas Cowboys. He would drop back from under center, behind arguably the league's best offensive line, studded with All-Pros. He would hand the ball off to the fourth overall pick in the draft, running back out of Ohio State, Ezekiel Elliott. He would throw the ball to great receivers such as Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, and Cole Beasley. He admitted before the season that his body felt the best it ever has. Romo's best chance at winning a championship was 2016. But unfortunately, he suffered a severe back injury at Seattle during the preseason. Dak Prescott took over for him, and the rest is history. 

But Romo would get the chance at going out with a bang. He played for one series in 2016 in Philadelphia against the Eagles in Week 17. Romo completed three of four passes for 29 yards, including a 3 yard touchdown pass to Terrance Williams on the final pass attempt of his career. 

But following the game, many simply thought Romo just significantly boosted his trade stock, and that teams would be calling up the Cowboys to pursue his services. But in the end, a trade never happened, nor did Romo ever have the opportunity to pursue the open market.

Romo's retirement truly is a shame. From his one drive this season, Romo looked like his vintage self. He clearly had the competitive desire to play. He showed the league that he could still play. Despite this being the twilight for Romo's career, he looked sharp. In his hey day, Romo was one of the funnest quarterbacks to watch in the NFL. He looked like the same quarterback in Philadelphia. Following Houston's trade of Brock Osweiler, Romo seemed destined to go to Houston. But it never happened.

I felt that if Romo went to the Texans, Houston would immediately be a top AFC contender, right behind New England. With the league's top ranked defense in 2016, and playmakers on the perimeter like DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller, why wouldn't Romo be able to do great things in Houston? The quarterback position has been the Achilles heel for the Texans franchise for the duration of their history, especially in the Bill O'Brien era. Romo would have been the best quarterback possibly in Texans history. With the team surrounding him, why wouldn't Romo be able to lead the Texans to one, maybe two playoff wins? It would have been the perfect situation for Romo to win a Super Bowl. 

Denver would not have been the ideal situation for Romo. The Denver offensive line was one of the league's worst in 2016. If Trevor Siemian suffered an injury behind that line, a Romo injury was inevitable in Denver. Kansas City was never going to pursue Romo. The Chiefs organization had confidence in Alex Smith, and they weren't going to turn away to a 37-year old quarterback. And teams like Buffalo, New York, and Chicago simply don't have the caliber to acquire Romo in any way.

Not everyone will agree. But for me, Romo had the opportunity to go out on top and win a Super Bowl with the Houston Texans. You can't argue how much Romo would elevate the reputation and contention status of the Texans. Unfortunately, he will not get the opportunity to win a championship any longer.

One day, we will look back and think about how great of a quarterback Tony Romo was. He is mostly perceived as a quarterback who chokes on the big stage and can't win in the playoffs. But who do you think led the Cowboys into the playoffs in the first place? His critics will argue against him for the Hall of Fame because he only has two playoff wins in his career, and that the Cowboys never advanced beyond the Divisional Round in Romo's tenure. But for the most part, the Cowboys teams of Romo's era simply weren't that great. It was Romo who led the Cowboys from the mid 2000s to the early 2010s. He made the Cowboys look good by winning games for them and putting up great stat lines in the box scores. Romo did what he could with what upper management built for him on the roster. 

Tony Romo will be missed on the field. But I am confident that he will be a great broadcaster.

Photo credit: http://sports.yahoo.com/m/2028f644-c691-3e2d-a697-5bd813c1df38/ss_nfl-rumors%3A-tony-romo-going.html 

Sources: http://www.espn.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/130843/where-tony-romo-stacks-up-all-time