Gosselin: Tony Romo's health is holding the Dallas Cowboys hostage

Cotton

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Tony Romo's health is holding the Dallas Cowboys hostage

By Rick Gosselin , Staff Columnist

The New England Patriots gave their franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe a 10-year, $103 million contract in March 2001. He was only 29, and Patriots owner Bob Kraft paid him to deliver Lombardi Trophies.

Bledsoe started two games that season before suffering a ruptured blood vessel in his chest in Week 2. He went to the hospital and Tom Brady went to the field. Bledsoe returned eight games later but coach Bill Belichick had already moved on. Brady went 5-2 in Bledsoe's absence and the Patriots decided to stick with him.

The rest, as they say, is history. Brady took the Patriots to their first Super Bowl championship that season. Fifteen years later, Brady still sits atop the quarterbacking depth chart at New England, now with four Super Bowl rings. An injury also ended Joe Montana's Hall of Fame run as quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers. Steve Young replaced him in the huddle in 1991 and never gave the job back.

Injuries are the great equalizer in the NFL. One man's misfortune can become another man's good fortune.

An August injury has sent Tony Romo to the Dallas sideline. Again. This will be the fourth consecutive season he has missed time because of an assortment of back and shoulder injuries. He figures to miss six to 10 weeks with a compressed fracture of a vertebrae suffered last week at Seattle, according to a source.

Rookie Dak Prescott inherits the Dallas offense. He will not be merely keeping the seat warm for Romo. He'll be auditioning for the job. Everyone expected Brady to give the job back. He didn't. Everyone expected Young to give the job back. He didn't. The stage has now been set for Dak.

Romo is 36. He's now made of glass. Every time he takes a hit the franchise gasps. His health holds the Cowboys hostage. He goes down and the franchise wilts, as we saw last season. The drafting of Prescott was an effort by the Cowboys to finally establish a plan of succession at the quarterback position. Romo wasn't getting any younger. Or any healthier.

Prescott showed the Cowboys everything they wanted to see from him this summer -- accuracy, mobility, charisma, poise, precision and swagger. He has thrown five TD passes and rushed for two more scores with no turnovers this preseason. His 137.8 passer efficiency rating leads all NFL quarterbacks who have thrown at least 20 passes this preseason.

The Cowboys don't need Prescott to necessarily claim the position during his spin this fall as the starter. But the Cowboys need him to play well enough to force coach Jason Garrett to make a hard decision. Prescott looms as the franchise's future. Now he needs to showcase himself as the club's present. He's everything Romo is not _ young, healthy and cheap.

Prescott could represent stability at the position. The health of Romo represents instability.
 

dallen

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As much as I love Romo part of me is hoping he never plays again
 

L.T. Fan

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I think he will play again this season.
 

data

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Wrong. Jerruh's GM'ng and philosophy of 1-800-Dial-A-QB holds the Cowboys hostage. Finding Romo's successor has been 2+ years overdue.
 

L.T. Fan

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Wrong. Jerruh's GM'ng and philosophy of 1-800-Dial-A-QB holds the Cowboys hostage. Finding Romo's successor has been 2+ years overdue.
I guess we will see but Jones has already indicated Romo will be back in the lineup.
 

mcnuttz

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Ride the hot hand.

If Dak is only showing improvements, there's no way you just give the ball back to Romo.
 

Cotton

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Ride the hot hand.

If Dak is only showing improvements, there's no way you just give the ball back to Romo.
You just hide and watch, pal.
 

mcnuttz

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You just hide and watch, pal.
I want to see Romo win a Super Bowl, can't lie about that.

But I want to see the Dallas Cowboys win a Super Bowl.

He's had 12+ years to do it, and for whatever reason it never happened.

If this kid keeps playing the way he has been, no one would sit him for Romo.
 

Cotton

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I want to see Romo win a Super Bowl, can't lie about that.

But I want to see the Dallas Cowboys win a Super Bowl.

He's had 12+ years to do it, and for whatever reason it never happened.

If this kid keeps playing the way he has been, no one would sit him for Romo.
You apparently forgot who owns this team.
 

L.T. Fan

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You apparently forgot who owns this team.
Romo will move back in the lineup as soon as, he gets a clearance. Both he and Jones have an urgency about the supposed window.
 

Cotton

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Romo will move back in the lineup as soon as, he gets a clearance. Both he and Jones have an urgency about the supposed window.
Yep.
 

Joe Fan

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Romo will move back in the lineup as soon as, he gets a clearance. Both he and Jones have an urgency about the supposed window.
I wonder if Romo realizes that he's actually hurting the team rather than helping it by rushing back so quickly. Of course neither he nor Jones does but still.. At some point you would hope that he starts thinking about his future because at this point the only way he may end up leaving the field is in a wheelchair and I really don't want to see that happen to him.
 

Cowboysrock55

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It all looks like it may turn out with Dak anyway but this is why back during draft time it was absolutely silly to draft with the thought that "we need to make one last push for Romo."
 
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