Green Bay — Even now, almost 12 years after the fact, Shaun Herock still wonders what might have been if Tony Romo had become a member of the Green Bay Packers.
Disappointment lingers for Herock, the Packers' Midwest-area scout in 2003 and for most of his 19-year tenure under general managers Ron Wolf, Mike Sherman and Ted Thompson.
In the months leading up to that draft, Herock was almost a lone wolf at 1265 Lombardi Ave., crying out for others to see the potential that he did in Romo, the quarterback from Eastern Illinois by way of Burlington.
"I absolutely loved him," Herock said Wednesday. "Brett Favre basically was his idol. It would have been a special thing for the kid, a Wisconsin kid, to be here."
Herock's affection for the Packers didn't die when he departed in May 2012 to join GM Reggie McKenzie in Oakland as director of college scouting.
Thus, Herock can see that maybe, just maybe, the Packers' decision neither to draft Romo nor sign him as a free agent indirectly created the scenario through which Aaron Rodgers wound up coming to Green Bay as the 24th selection in the 2005 draft.
"Things happen for the good and the bad," Herock said. "Maybe it was good that we didn't get him so we got Aaron later."
On Sunday, the top two quarterbacks in career passer rating, Rodgers (106.0) for the Packers and Romo (97.6) for the Dallas Cowboys, will square off in an NFC divisional playoff game at 12:05 p.m. at Lambeau Field.
For Herock, the story began in fall of 2002 when he arrived on the EIU campus in Charleston, Ill., to evaluate Romo, who was soon to become the first three-time Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.
"He sat there and watched film with me the whole time," Herock remembered. "I think he was just excited we were in there watching."
Herock refused to say what his grade was on Romo, but sources said it was the third round.
"They played Kansas State, and it was a good game and a bad game," Herock said. "Because he threw interceptions but also some touchdowns. If you took all the good things out of there, you could see what he could be."
Romo's dimensions (6 feet 2 inches, 230 pounds) were almost the exact same as Favre's. His 40-yard dash time of 5.01 seconds was close, too.
"The one thing that he could really do that Brett did was roll out of the pocket and throw well on the move," Herock said. "He could anticipate. He had accuracy. Fast release. Good enough arm. Athletic.
"Everything about him was so good coming out. Good worker. Did everything everybody asked. He was a guy you felt good about."
Herock said the late Mark Hatley, the Packers vice president of football operations, was the only other person in the building that shared his opinion. Hatley put a fourth-round grade on Romo, according to sources.
Sherman, in his role as coach and GM, ultimately was responsible for arranging the Packers' draft board. But when it came to quarterbacks, Sherman relied heavily on offensive coordinator Tom Rossley.
It was Rossley, based on sources, who decided the Packers would have no interest in Romo.
"The kid kind of got beat down a little bit," Herock said. "The powers that be just didn't like him.
"You kind of know your battles you can win, and you know your battles you're not even going to have a chance to win. You want to fight for a kid, but you're not getting any interaction to sell the kid. There wasn't even a light to sign him after the draft. It was just a no."
Favre, 34 at the time, was backed up by veteran Doug Pederson and Craig Nall, a fifth-round pick in 2002. The Packers were eager to draft Favre's heir apparent in the first round, but when four quarterbacks were taken before their No. 29 selection, they drafted other positions.
Immediately after the draft, Romo said he and his agent were deluged with calls from about 20 teams. The Packers never called.
"He grew up rooting for the Packers; he's a big Brett Favre fan," former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman said this week. "So, had Green Bay wanted to sign him to a free-agent contract, he'd probably be a Packer right now."
Romo accepted a $10,000 signing bonus from the Cowboys over Denver, which he called his second choice. The Cowboys had an edge because Sean Payton, their quarterbacks coach, starred at Eastern Illinois. Of course, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan played and coached there, too.
Payton had wanted to draft Romo, who was rated a sixth- or seventh-round pick by Dallas.
The Packers did give a $4,000 signing bonus to a rookie quarterback after the draft. That was Utah State's Jose Fuentes, but he was so awful they cut him two weeks later.
In Dallas, coach Bill Parcells saw good things in Romo and kept him over veteran Clint Stoerner as his No. 3. In 2004, Romo beat out Chad Hutchinson to be No. 3 again.
The Cowboys signaled that Romo had found a home by giving him a $300,000 signing bonus in May 2005. He shared No. 2 duties with Drew Henson in his third season, then replaced ineffective Drew Bledsoe at halftime of Game 6 of 2006.
Eight years later, Romo remains the central figure in Jerry Jones' hopes for another Super Bowl. Of the 13 quarterbacks drafted in 2003, Herock rates Romo slightly ahead of top pick Carson Palmer as the best.
Let's assume the Packers either would have drafted or signed Romo. Let's also assume he would have developed under quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell, made the team and convinced Thompson and Sherman to label him Favre's successor as they prepared for their only draft together draft in 2005.
"Ted had just come in," Herock said. "You're at a point where Sherman wants to find an immediate player, not a guy to come in and sit. That would maybe put more pressure to keep Tony and get another player to help you win now."
Herock has debated it in his mind many times.
"We had no idea Aaron would be there with that pick," he said. "I still say it would have been hard to pass up a quarterback like that who we thought was going to be taken well before our pick. If you have a great player available, you take him."
Since their campus film session, Herock has never spoken to Romo, a three-time Pro Bowl player. But like most scouts, he remembered the moment.
"That's the fun part of (scouting), seeing a kid like that mature, take off and really be a good player," Herock said. "I watch him and I think, 'What a player this guy has developed into. From sitting down with me to this.'"
WHAT SCOUTS WERE SAYING ABOUT ROMO
What NFL personnel men told the Journal Sentinel's Bob McGinn about quarterback Tony Romo of Eastern Illinois before the 2003 draft:
Jerry Angelo, Chicago: "He's OK. I see him as maybe a four (fourth-round pick). I don't see him as being anything close to a first-day (top three rounds) guy."
Jon Kingdon, Oakland: "He flings it from all over. From every angle that you can throw it. He's a competitive, tough kid. He's got a shot to go somewhere."
Charley Armey, St. Louis: "Way down the line. He's a take-a-chance guy. I wouldn't draft him."
John Brunner, San Francisco: "I gave him like a fourth-round grade. Pretty good. Runs the shotgun. This year he passed a lot, and they didn't have as good a team. He carried their whole team. He's got a lot of pizzazz to him. I like him."
Ron Nay, Washington: "Not very accurate. Throws the ball all over the ballpark. IMG's trying to convince people he's really good but he isn't. Real late or free agent. I just can't imagine him being drafted."
Tom Donahoe, Buffalo: "He's OK. He's got a funny release, but he's got a pretty good arm."
Mark Hatley, Green Bay: "Had a great interview with us. He's a special cat now."
Marc Ross, Philadelphia: "He's OK. He's a good-sized kid. Not the greatest athlete. He might be a late guy."
Disappointment lingers for Herock, the Packers' Midwest-area scout in 2003 and for most of his 19-year tenure under general managers Ron Wolf, Mike Sherman and Ted Thompson.
In the months leading up to that draft, Herock was almost a lone wolf at 1265 Lombardi Ave., crying out for others to see the potential that he did in Romo, the quarterback from Eastern Illinois by way of Burlington.
"I absolutely loved him," Herock said Wednesday. "Brett Favre basically was his idol. It would have been a special thing for the kid, a Wisconsin kid, to be here."
Herock's affection for the Packers didn't die when he departed in May 2012 to join GM Reggie McKenzie in Oakland as director of college scouting.
Thus, Herock can see that maybe, just maybe, the Packers' decision neither to draft Romo nor sign him as a free agent indirectly created the scenario through which Aaron Rodgers wound up coming to Green Bay as the 24th selection in the 2005 draft.
"Things happen for the good and the bad," Herock said. "Maybe it was good that we didn't get him so we got Aaron later."
On Sunday, the top two quarterbacks in career passer rating, Rodgers (106.0) for the Packers and Romo (97.6) for the Dallas Cowboys, will square off in an NFC divisional playoff game at 12:05 p.m. at Lambeau Field.
For Herock, the story began in fall of 2002 when he arrived on the EIU campus in Charleston, Ill., to evaluate Romo, who was soon to become the first three-time Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.
"He sat there and watched film with me the whole time," Herock remembered. "I think he was just excited we were in there watching."
Herock refused to say what his grade was on Romo, but sources said it was the third round.
"They played Kansas State, and it was a good game and a bad game," Herock said. "Because he threw interceptions but also some touchdowns. If you took all the good things out of there, you could see what he could be."
Romo's dimensions (6 feet 2 inches, 230 pounds) were almost the exact same as Favre's. His 40-yard dash time of 5.01 seconds was close, too.
"The one thing that he could really do that Brett did was roll out of the pocket and throw well on the move," Herock said. "He could anticipate. He had accuracy. Fast release. Good enough arm. Athletic.
"Everything about him was so good coming out. Good worker. Did everything everybody asked. He was a guy you felt good about."
Herock said the late Mark Hatley, the Packers vice president of football operations, was the only other person in the building that shared his opinion. Hatley put a fourth-round grade on Romo, according to sources.
Sherman, in his role as coach and GM, ultimately was responsible for arranging the Packers' draft board. But when it came to quarterbacks, Sherman relied heavily on offensive coordinator Tom Rossley.
It was Rossley, based on sources, who decided the Packers would have no interest in Romo.
"The kid kind of got beat down a little bit," Herock said. "The powers that be just didn't like him.
"You kind of know your battles you can win, and you know your battles you're not even going to have a chance to win. You want to fight for a kid, but you're not getting any interaction to sell the kid. There wasn't even a light to sign him after the draft. It was just a no."
Favre, 34 at the time, was backed up by veteran Doug Pederson and Craig Nall, a fifth-round pick in 2002. The Packers were eager to draft Favre's heir apparent in the first round, but when four quarterbacks were taken before their No. 29 selection, they drafted other positions.
Immediately after the draft, Romo said he and his agent were deluged with calls from about 20 teams. The Packers never called.
"He grew up rooting for the Packers; he's a big Brett Favre fan," former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman said this week. "So, had Green Bay wanted to sign him to a free-agent contract, he'd probably be a Packer right now."
Romo accepted a $10,000 signing bonus from the Cowboys over Denver, which he called his second choice. The Cowboys had an edge because Sean Payton, their quarterbacks coach, starred at Eastern Illinois. Of course, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan played and coached there, too.
Payton had wanted to draft Romo, who was rated a sixth- or seventh-round pick by Dallas.
The Packers did give a $4,000 signing bonus to a rookie quarterback after the draft. That was Utah State's Jose Fuentes, but he was so awful they cut him two weeks later.
In Dallas, coach Bill Parcells saw good things in Romo and kept him over veteran Clint Stoerner as his No. 3. In 2004, Romo beat out Chad Hutchinson to be No. 3 again.
The Cowboys signaled that Romo had found a home by giving him a $300,000 signing bonus in May 2005. He shared No. 2 duties with Drew Henson in his third season, then replaced ineffective Drew Bledsoe at halftime of Game 6 of 2006.
Eight years later, Romo remains the central figure in Jerry Jones' hopes for another Super Bowl. Of the 13 quarterbacks drafted in 2003, Herock rates Romo slightly ahead of top pick Carson Palmer as the best.
Let's assume the Packers either would have drafted or signed Romo. Let's also assume he would have developed under quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell, made the team and convinced Thompson and Sherman to label him Favre's successor as they prepared for their only draft together draft in 2005.
"Ted had just come in," Herock said. "You're at a point where Sherman wants to find an immediate player, not a guy to come in and sit. That would maybe put more pressure to keep Tony and get another player to help you win now."
Herock has debated it in his mind many times.
"We had no idea Aaron would be there with that pick," he said. "I still say it would have been hard to pass up a quarterback like that who we thought was going to be taken well before our pick. If you have a great player available, you take him."
Since their campus film session, Herock has never spoken to Romo, a three-time Pro Bowl player. But like most scouts, he remembered the moment.
"That's the fun part of (scouting), seeing a kid like that mature, take off and really be a good player," Herock said. "I watch him and I think, 'What a player this guy has developed into. From sitting down with me to this.'"
WHAT SCOUTS WERE SAYING ABOUT ROMO
What NFL personnel men told the Journal Sentinel's Bob McGinn about quarterback Tony Romo of Eastern Illinois before the 2003 draft:
Jerry Angelo, Chicago: "He's OK. I see him as maybe a four (fourth-round pick). I don't see him as being anything close to a first-day (top three rounds) guy."
Jon Kingdon, Oakland: "He flings it from all over. From every angle that you can throw it. He's a competitive, tough kid. He's got a shot to go somewhere."
Charley Armey, St. Louis: "Way down the line. He's a take-a-chance guy. I wouldn't draft him."
John Brunner, San Francisco: "I gave him like a fourth-round grade. Pretty good. Runs the shotgun. This year he passed a lot, and they didn't have as good a team. He carried their whole team. He's got a lot of pizzazz to him. I like him."
Ron Nay, Washington: "Not very accurate. Throws the ball all over the ballpark. IMG's trying to convince people he's really good but he isn't. Real late or free agent. I just can't imagine him being drafted."
Tom Donahoe, Buffalo: "He's OK. He's got a funny release, but he's got a pretty good arm."
Mark Hatley, Green Bay: "Had a great interview with us. He's a special cat now."
Marc Ross, Philadelphia: "He's OK. He's a good-sized kid. Not the greatest athlete. He might be a late guy."
