We've had 4 weeks of NFL football and it seems that Tony Romo has been the lead on shows like Around The Horn and Pardon The Interruption and rightfully so. Romo's been the main story in Week 1, Week 2, and Week 4. Week 1 and Week 4, he's added to his resume of epic chokes in games. Against the Jets on the opening week, on national TV, Romo fumbled on the 1 yard line and threw just a God awful interception to allow the Jets to set up a game winning field goal to complete blowing a 14 point lead 4th quarter lead. He seemed to shake that off and came back and won an overtime game vs the 49ers the next week with cracked ribs but this past week he collapsed yet again and it was almost predictable. The Cowboys led the Lions by 24 points in the second half and the Lions started their comeback after Romo threw another pick that made you scratch your head. Bobby Carpenter picked it off and ran it back for a TD. Then Romo threw another Pick 6 on the next possession. The most egregious interception was an off balance, off the back foot, into triple coverage throw to Jason Witten that I and two of my friends predicted and then laughed at how bad it was. The next day on all the NFL shows, all they talked about was Tony Romo's collapse and how bad it was. But there is a bigger story here. Can Romo overcome these debacles and redeem himself?
Many athletes in the past have been labeled as chokes and have been able to redeem themselves. The most recent and perhaps most inspiring story happened in Tony Romo's own city. In 2006, Dirk Nowitzki had such a public failure on his games greatest stage. The Mavericks lead the Heat two games to none in the NBA Finals and they blew a 13 point 4th quarter lead with Dirk at the center of the collapse. In game 4 Dirk bricked potential game winning free throws. While Dirk came up small, Dwayne Wade on the other side made every big play for the heat. It was one of the worst choke jobs by a team and player in NBA history. The next year was somehow worse. Dirk won the MVP and led the Mavs to 67 wins and the top seed in the NBA. Then in the playoffs, The Warriors ousted the Mavs and Dirk looked utterly lost. The critics were on Dirk more than ever and he widely became known as the biggest choke in the NBA. He continuously kept coming up small in big spots and was well on the way to becoming known as the best player never to win a championship.
Then the 2011 playoffs came around and Dirk took no prisoners. He led the Mavs to a dominant sweep of the two time defending champions Los Angeles Lakers, took down the up and coming Thunder and rewrote his legacy by taking down the Miami Heat than left him broken 5 years before. Dirk hit every big shot while Lebron James was the one getting criticized like Dirk once been. You could see the emotion on Dirk's face when he finally won. He ran back into the locker room to have the moment to himself and he deserved it. He was a guy that deserved a championship more than anyone in the NBA that year. He took all the shots from the experts and talking heads weather fair or unfair and kept coming back until he finally shook the choke label, won a championship and cemented his legacy as one of the greats to ever play in the NBA.
So, yes, redemption is possible. Romo just has to look down the street at Dirk. Romo has had just as many collapses as Dirk had. The botched field goal in the playoffs. The playoff ending interception vs the Giants in 2007. It'll be tough to shake those cobwebs because I think he is a little sensitive and his every little move in monitored in Big D. But he just has to stay strong, learn from his mistakes and just keep playing football. Who knows if he can overcome his habit of blowing up at the wrong time but it is possible. Redemption is always possible.
Until next time...
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