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Tony Romo does his best Jason Garrett impression during promotional appearance
Rainer Sabin
Whether Jason Garrett is capable of brainwashing his players or performing acts of inception isn’t exactly clear. But it’s hard not to get the impression the Cowboys coach has these powers after listening to Tony Romo during an event for Core Power, a healthy protein milk shake the quarterback is pitching at the same time he hawks Pizza Hut.
In a panel discussion at SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium, it seemed as if Romo cribbed Garrett’s talking points or was a puppet in a ventriloquist act with the head coach stealthily lurking somewhere behind him.
Alas, Garrett was nowhere to be found.
But he was there in spirit. Romo, Garrett’s acolyte of nine years, dropped the words, “process” and “build.” He used phrases like “right kind of guys” and “best version of himself.” He elaborated on the concept of starting from scratch every season, saying that “this whole team is going to be a completely different team” than the 2014 edition. He discussed the importance of enjoying the experience before adding this Garrett-ism: “Forget the results. They’re going to come.”
He even referenced a Malcolm Gladwell theory.
For nearly a half-hour, he did his best imitation of Garrett. On the dais where he spoke, he told some stories that had deeper messages, which is also right out of the Garrett playbook.
His best one?
How he became the top-tier player he is today. Romo recalled that as a freshman at Eastern Illinois he was pretty bad – worse than both the starter and backup on campus at the time.
His coach, Bob Spoo, arrived at the same conclusion and made a suggestion.
“What do you think about moving to tight end?” he said.
“I was like, ‘Give me one more chance in spring,’” Romo recalled. “And that’s really where the shift took place in work ethic and what I needed to do to be a good quarterback. Every single day I threw the ball. Probably from 19 years old till 31, I’d throw the football 360 days a year. I would take off three to 10 days. I felt like that was my edge. It was my edge because I wasn’t very good. I came to college and I wasn’t very good. I came back that spring game four or five months later, and I was like, 19 for 21.”
Romo proved himself worthy of remaining a quarterback. But he still wasn’t completely confident in his ability to perform.
“I knew I wasn’t good enough,” he said. “I wasn’t refined. I wasn’t technically refined. Every time I got to a new place, in high school – wasn’t good enough. In college? Wasn’t good enough. The NFL? Wasn’t good enough. But once I recognized what everyone else was doing and my ability to process what I needed to do to get better I was going to attack it. It was just a matter of time before I’d catch up and then with your God-given ability sometimes you can go past people.
“When did I know I was in that one percent? I would tell you I just got there last year. When I say that, that doesn’t mean I’ve arrived. It means I feel comfortable now when I wake up and I am going to take that football and hit the “C” on the Coke sign up there.’”
Romo was pointing at a target far above where he was sitting, and that’s when he gave an indirect shout-out to Gladwell – someone Garrett has subtly referenced.
“I got those 10,000 hours,” he said, summing up his little yarn.
Of course, right before the conversation wrapped up, Romo veered off the Garrett script. He was asked how the Cowboys were going to fare in 2015.
“I think this team has a chance to be very good next year,” he said.
To the same question, Garrett most likely would have responded with this phrase: “We’re only focused on today.”
Rainer Sabin
Whether Jason Garrett is capable of brainwashing his players or performing acts of inception isn’t exactly clear. But it’s hard not to get the impression the Cowboys coach has these powers after listening to Tony Romo during an event for Core Power, a healthy protein milk shake the quarterback is pitching at the same time he hawks Pizza Hut.
In a panel discussion at SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium, it seemed as if Romo cribbed Garrett’s talking points or was a puppet in a ventriloquist act with the head coach stealthily lurking somewhere behind him.
Alas, Garrett was nowhere to be found.
But he was there in spirit. Romo, Garrett’s acolyte of nine years, dropped the words, “process” and “build.” He used phrases like “right kind of guys” and “best version of himself.” He elaborated on the concept of starting from scratch every season, saying that “this whole team is going to be a completely different team” than the 2014 edition. He discussed the importance of enjoying the experience before adding this Garrett-ism: “Forget the results. They’re going to come.”
He even referenced a Malcolm Gladwell theory.
For nearly a half-hour, he did his best imitation of Garrett. On the dais where he spoke, he told some stories that had deeper messages, which is also right out of the Garrett playbook.
His best one?
How he became the top-tier player he is today. Romo recalled that as a freshman at Eastern Illinois he was pretty bad – worse than both the starter and backup on campus at the time.
His coach, Bob Spoo, arrived at the same conclusion and made a suggestion.
“What do you think about moving to tight end?” he said.
“I was like, ‘Give me one more chance in spring,’” Romo recalled. “And that’s really where the shift took place in work ethic and what I needed to do to be a good quarterback. Every single day I threw the ball. Probably from 19 years old till 31, I’d throw the football 360 days a year. I would take off three to 10 days. I felt like that was my edge. It was my edge because I wasn’t very good. I came to college and I wasn’t very good. I came back that spring game four or five months later, and I was like, 19 for 21.”
Romo proved himself worthy of remaining a quarterback. But he still wasn’t completely confident in his ability to perform.
“I knew I wasn’t good enough,” he said. “I wasn’t refined. I wasn’t technically refined. Every time I got to a new place, in high school – wasn’t good enough. In college? Wasn’t good enough. The NFL? Wasn’t good enough. But once I recognized what everyone else was doing and my ability to process what I needed to do to get better I was going to attack it. It was just a matter of time before I’d catch up and then with your God-given ability sometimes you can go past people.
“When did I know I was in that one percent? I would tell you I just got there last year. When I say that, that doesn’t mean I’ve arrived. It means I feel comfortable now when I wake up and I am going to take that football and hit the “C” on the Coke sign up there.’”
Romo was pointing at a target far above where he was sitting, and that’s when he gave an indirect shout-out to Gladwell – someone Garrett has subtly referenced.
“I got those 10,000 hours,” he said, summing up his little yarn.
Of course, right before the conversation wrapped up, Romo veered off the Garrett script. He was asked how the Cowboys were going to fare in 2015.
“I think this team has a chance to be very good next year,” he said.
To the same question, Garrett most likely would have responded with this phrase: “We’re only focused on today.”
