A Tale Of Two Quarterbacks

Every devoted but insightful fan of the Dallas Cowboys, and this includes your's truly, knew it was only a matter of WHEN it would happen......not if it would happen. 

With America's Team battling the host Washington Redskins on pretty even footing Sunday night in a frigid do-or-die game to determine the final NFC playoff spot, Jason Garrett's team once again found a way to choke away its final hopes. The Cowboys have pretty much done this with regularity since 1996, the last season in which Dallas actually won a postseason game. The Cowboys have lost these pivotal type late-season games three times now in the past five years.

And it was not due to the coaching of Garrett, although he is certainly no Vince Lombardi or even a Dave Campo really as the Cowboys coach, the mammoth 200-yard rushing effort of Washington rookie Alfred Morris, or even the Mayans. 

Nope, the failure of the Cowboys once again mainly rested on the shoulders of Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, whose impact on the history of the NFL as a clutch quarterbacking legend is, I guess,  comparable to the no doubt significant impact that Justin Bieber has had in the annals of music history.

After once again teasing Cowboys fans by helping to lead a late drive which cut a 21-12 Redskin advantage to 21-18 , and with Dallas later getting the ball back with a chance to actually pull the game out of the fire, Romo instantly broke the hearts of the Cowboy Nation by subsequently throwing a lame duck floater of an interception. The Redskins added an insurance touchdown and thus yet another painful chapter was written in what has truly been an up and down saga since Romo became the starting quarterback in Big D.

Of course Dallas fans first got their first taste of the Romo roller coaster ride in 2006 as he helped lead the Cowboys to the playoffs, only to see Dallas fall in that infamous first-round postseason game at Seattle when Romo botched the snap on an apparent game-winning field goal against the Seahawks. Since that time, it has been flashes of brilliance by Romo followed by even more periods of frustration. 

I hate to just come out and lambaste the 32-year-old NFL veteran, as I have always found him to be a classy and accountable individual, a quarterback who has battled numerous injuries and a quarterback who has been with a revolving door of coaches, linemen and skill position players since he gained the starting role in Dallas. He has also set all kinds of Cowboys passing records and recorded a number of amazing highlight moments.

Unfortunately, however, Romo usually folds when the games take on increased pressure and significance, and is the perfect poster boy for a franchise which has basically just seemed mentally fragile over the past 6 to 7 years.  And Dallas continues to disappoint despite its status as the NFL's most valuable franchise and a franchise that plays its home games in arguably the most impressive venue in all of sports.

This season is the perfect example as the Cowboys got off to a slow start, found themselves battling from behind in most of their games and had to use a late run toward the end of the season just to set up the pivotal winner-takes-all game against the Redskins. 

In Sunday's game, the Cowboys found themselves in an early offensive hole due to turnovers and then had to turn it on again late when they found themselves down 21-12. Before the first quarter was over with, Romo had already been running for his life most of the period, but had also thrown two interceptions and was fortunate that the Cowboys defense was doing a good job early of controlling the high-octane Redskin offense. 

Slow starts by the Cowboys have been commonplace during the past few years and I think that reflects very much on the leadership of its on-field general, or lack thereof. 

While Romo is a good guy, he has never seemed like a great or fiery leader in the huddle, like a Peyton Manning, Dan Marino or Tom Brady. Of course that is not always imperative to be a great quarterback as signal-callers such as Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers have proven that you can have success and lead a team to big success with somewhat subdued personalities. 

But then again, quarterbacks such as Manning and Rodgers have not consistently killed their team's chances and playoff aspirations with lethal miscues at the most inopportune times. 

Cowboys fans have had a love/hate relationship with Romo ever since he became the man in the spotlight in Dallas.  Cowboys fans,including myself, have always appreciated his classy nature, his significant talents and his courage in playing through some pretty severe and nasty injuries. 

Those same fans, however, have been frustrated by his consistent inability to lead Dallas to the postseason, his penchant for disastrous miscues and his overall persona on the field that tends to lean more towards the humdrum than fiery, passionate and energetic. 

The beleaguered Romo has been scorched often by the Dallas and national media, and also often by a frustrated Cowboys fan base The heat figures to be more unpleasant now than ever after the latest Dallas debacle. 

One has to wonder now if owner Jerry Jones will finally decide to make some major changes to shake up this underachieving franchise, and whether those changes might involve the departure of Garrett and perhaps finally Romo. 

It will be interesting to watch, but I am thinking Dallas has gone as far as it will go with him taking the snaps, and Romo will never led the Cowboys to a Super Bowl. If he ever proves me wrong, I will certainly be the first to admit it, and obviously I hope I am totally wrong with that prediction. 

While Romo has certainly been a polarizing figure at best in Dallas, another quarterback who has perhaps inspired even more controversy, discussion and flat out rancor has been New York Jets backup quarterback and former Florida Heisman Trophy superstar Tim Tebow

Tebow, of course, has generated national headlines going back to his high school playing days, which were even chronicled by ESPN, and the spotlight only grew bigger during his prolific career under Urban Meyer at Florida and of course the past couple of seasons in the NFL with Denver and the Jets. 

And the reaction to Tebow has always been varied, whether it be hatred, envy, skepticism, or admiration and devoted fan support. 

This is of course due to the fact that he has been so often in the media spotlight, the fact that he is often very demonstrative on the field and in media settings, the amount of success and popularity he has enjoyed and regrettably also because he is an outstanding and outspoken Christian young man. 

Whether you love Tebow or despise the 25-year-old star, there is no justification for the way he was treated by Coach Rex Ryan and the Jets this season. 

The Jets traded for Tebow, under the guise that he would be brought in to be the main backup to incumbent starter Mark Sanchez, but as the season progressed to its ugly end for New York, it became more apparent the trade must have been forced on Ryan, and that it was a sheer publicity stunt at best. On a quick side note, on what had to be called Bloody Monday today due to all of the head coaches and general managers that were axed, I found it incredible that Ryan was able to hold onto his job considering the shoddy way he coached his team in 2012, and more specifically his quarterbacks. 

Sanchez, who looks as though he is about to throw up every time he steps on the field for the Jets, has progressively gotten worse during his tenure with the team, is an interception or fumble waiting to happen, and who like Romo shows no semblance of leadership in the huddle. 

Meanwhile, Ryan, who seemingly has some type of personal vendetta against Tebow, refused to give Tebow the slightest opportunity to come in and bring some spirit to the Jets' moribund offense and Tebow was only allowed to participate in a few Wildcat plays. Yes, it is obviously clear that Tebow is not a great NFL quarterback and he proved that even during last year's magical run to the playoffs by Denver, but the fact is he really could not have been any worse than Sanchez, and with the magic that seems to follow the former Gator, he might have at least been able to have generated two or three wins for the Jets and maybe snuck them into postseason play. They were not that far off despite the horrendous play of the Jet offense.

Obviously, I am very pleased that former University of Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy was given a chance to start during Week 15 of the regular season, but of course that did not go well for the former Crimson Tider as he was sacked 11 times in another Jet loss, and it was really unfair overall that Tebow once again got passed over in favor of McElroy. 

Not only did Ryan refuse to start Tebow, but he could not help himself from going to the media and pointing out that Tebow was not happy about being put in Wildcat plays and that he was also upset about repeatedly being passed over for starting opportunities. 

Of course Tebow should have been upset about getting the least amount of playing time at quarterback since probably his youth football days, but then again it appeared that Ryan was also trying to smear Tebow's reputation as a classy team player in the process. For this alone I would have loved seeing Ryan get the axe. 

Of course, like many things in the NFL, it all really comes down to money, as Sanchez has a big contract with the Jets, and a contract that was recently extended for whatever ungodly reason. The Jets are pretty much stuck with the former USC Trojan no matter how ugly his play is most Sundays. 

It remains to be seen what happens with Tebow at this point, but just the few solid games he put together for Denver last season merits him another opportunity to start in the league. There is speculation that the Jacksonville Jaguars may try to obtain him, which really makes all the sense in the world. 

Tebow is a hero in Florida, and he would be a much-needed huge drawing card in Jacksonville, and would probably sell out most games whether they win or lose, or whether or not he really has any semblance of success. 

I sincerely doubt that he can ever be a top flight NFL quarterback as his mechanics and arm are just not of a pro football caliber, but he is a dangerous runner.  If he can't quite make the cut at quarterback, one wonders if Tebow would ever be adaptable to switching positions and perhaps be used as a fullback/tight end hybrid type. I personally think he could have some significant success in that type of role/position, but time will tell. 

One thing is certain about both Romo and Tebow, who have been through their share of jublilation and frustration during their NFL journeys. 

I think it is time for both to be in different places, sooner than later.