Has Lady Magnet Tony Romo Lost His Magic?

More focus needed on Tony Romo the playmaker, not Tony Romo the player (a la Carrie Underwood)
 

The Dallas Cowboys have chosen the worst possible time to take a step backwards.  Tony Romo was all the rage in Dallas when he took over for an aging Drew Bledsoe at quarterback, winning several games to get Dallas back into Playoffs contention.  Romo succeeded there but the Dallas Cowboys puttered out at the end of the regular season, failing to secure an NFC East Title that somehow got taken by the newest NFL sensation, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jeff Garcia.

Maybe it's a matter of Tony Romo mimicking his own new founded pop culture fame.  We all know how pop culture enjoys a short shelf life.  For Romo, the media has become more focused on who he is dating (latest conquest is country singer and former American Idol Carrie Underwood) rather than who he is playing.  But when the losses come, the media shifts its attention back to Romo and his role with Dallas.

PinnacleSports.com (see website here) has the Dallas Cowboys with odds slightly more than +1200 to win the NFC Championship.  That's a $1200 payout on a $100 bet if they can pull this off.

The overnight Pro Bowl sensation couldn't dig himself out of his own miscues in the Cowboys' 39-31 loss to the previously two-win Detroit Lions. Romo almost rallied the Cowboys, but he couldn't overcome bumbling ball-handling problems in the pocket. He has lost three of his past four starts after a 5-1 start, writes Rick Herrin of the Star Telegraph.

"He's got a lot of weight on his shoulders and a lot of pressure on him to perform," Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn said. "He jumped out there kind of hot because teams really didn't understand him."

Almost the same day Romo became a starting quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys, tabloids had him romantically linked with Jessica Simpson.  While those rumors were flatly denied, a camera panning in on Carrie Underwood watching from the stands during the Cowboys Christmas day game had all the world talking.

The Enquirer reveals that a Thanksgiving flirtation has turned into a New Year romance.

When the two were introduced following a Turkey Day Cowboys game, “there was a jolt of attraction, and they began making plans to get together as soon as their busy schedules allowed,” a source close to the singer told The ENQUIRER.

Sparks flew immediately when the two spent time together following the Cowboys 38-10 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thanksgiving Day.

“During their first meeting, Tony gushed about Carrie’s halftime performance of ‘Before He Cheats,’” said the source.

“Here’s a guy who has just tied a Cowboys record by throwing five touchdown passes in a game, and he was more concerned with how Carrie had blown the crowd away with her two-song set!"

Leo Kelly of the Ada Evening News hits the mark perfectly when he writes:

"When Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo enjoyed immediate success after taking over from Drew Bledsoe, the fickle Dallas fans and the fickler sports media were ready to put the youngster into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

'Put away the anointing oil!' the Big Tuna yelled out with a scowl, understanding the kid had a lot of growing pains to navigate before becoming a big-time player in the National Football League.

"One thing is certain after Sunday: Troy Aikman, Tony Romo ain’t. Not yet, anyway."

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Christopher Costigan, www.sports911.com

Originally published January 1, 2007 4:50 pm ET