Watkins: Tony Romo talks golf, expectations

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Tony Romo talks golf, expectations

June, 27, 2013

By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com


Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo conducted his annual football camp Monday in his hometown of Burlington, Wisc. Romo has always been true to his roots and he conducted a news conference where he talked about various subjects.

For me, Romo's answer about playing golf was interesting. He said his golf game is "non-existent. I haven't played in awhile." It was a big deal around here whenever Romo played in a local golf tournament or tried to qualify for the HP Byron Nelson or U.S. Open. Fans and some media members questioned Romo's commitment to the Cowboys. I've always though this was silly, considering Romo is one of the hardest workers on the team.

Romo takes losses just as hard as anybody. Now, some of his comments after losses -- the 44-6 loss in 2008 to the Eagles comes to mind when he noted he's been through tougher things in his life -- was a bad one. Romo not commenting on the firing of then-coach Wade Phillips was also a poor decision.

Yet, Romo understands the expectations placed on him by Jerry Jones, the fans and the media.

While Romo still enjoys playing golf even though he didn't play much this offseason because of surgery on his back to remove a cyst, the statement about staying away from it was important.

Here's a link to the news conference in his hometown with a few of the questions below.


Q: It's been eight years now. What is it like to look back on all these years?

Romo: It goes by fast. That's one thing you want to tell the kids. Some kids complain about what they have to do, but you're going to have a short period of time in your life to play football. During that time, you can embrace it. It's more about the journey than the end of it. They don't realize until it's too late. Whether it's football or school or life, just don't wait. If you attack it, you're gaining something.

Q: How crazy is it that a kid from Walworth County (Travis Frederick) is on your team?

Romo: It's rare. I didn't expect that, but Doug Free is also from here. Travis has done a great job, and he's a real smart kid. He picks things up fast, and that will help him. I'm excited about playing with him.

Q: How's your golf game?

Romo: Non-existent. I haven't played in awhile.

Q: How's your family?

Romo: I have a baby boy who is a year and two months old. He's running around and keeping us busy. We're trying to keep him from growing too fast. My wife loves rocking him. But he doesn't like to be rocked anymore. I almost have to rock her because he doesn't like to be rocked. He's already playing with little footballs.

Q: You guys play the Packers this year. Is that still kind of cool to play them?

Romo: It's cool because they're good. It will be a great test. We're going to be pretty good this year. This is one of the most complete teams that I've been around. It's going to be a very enjoyable football season.

Q: How nice is it to enter the season with a new contract?

Romo: I signed one when I first got into the league, and this is my third. It's a great thing that the team believes in you and they think you're the guy that will take them where they want to go. It makes you work and get to a point where you can bring everybody a Super Bowl. I don't think I'll ever have a bigger signing day than when I first got to the NFL. I didn't even understand what hundreds of thousands of dollars was. When that came about, I was like, "Well, I can retire tomorrow, I have $100,000. I'll be able to do whatever I want to do." That was still the biggest.
 
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