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Roger Staubach and Tony Romo: On dating and treatment by fans, media
Posted at 1:56 PM on Thu., Jul. 29, 2010 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Todd Archer / Reporter Bio | E-mail | News tips
During the spring the Sporting News had Tony Romo and Roger Staubach in for a conversation.
The piece is set to run Aug. 2.
Here are some excerpts sent along from the folks at the magazine:
SN: Tony, is there anything about your leadership and commitment that merits questioning to begin with?
ROMO: I don't know. The media can definitely shape you. The thing with me ... is that it's what your teammates and the people that see you see every day. The hardest thing for me would be if someone is a fake. If someone is going to tell everyone how hard he works and then I see him around here not working hard, that wouldn't last very long. If the media presents someone as "he whines all the time" or something, but we see he's not like that, then as teammates and a coaching staff we're fine with the guy as long as he's committed to the approach and doing things the right way. Whatever the media wants to present, that's just part of winning and losing.
SN: Roger, do you think Tony has been treated fairly?
STAUBACH: Fairly? I think people who are fans and understand sports know that he's a great quarterback. The most important thing is his teammates know that. That's what it's all about when you hit that field.
(CBS's) Phyllis George interviewed me one time at my house. She's in there with me and my wife, Marianne, and three of our kids right there on the couch. We were talking about Joe Namath being in New York having a great time. I said, "What are you trying to say, Phyllis? That I don't enjoy life or something?" I said, "I enjoy sex just like Joe Namath does. I just do it with one woman." That dang thing got all over the place, like I was some sort of weirdo.
I think Tony and I have different lifestyles, but on the field we're very similar. This guy wants to win, and he competes, and his teammates love him. They know how good he is. And he makes plays and he never complains. Off the field, he's a good guy. He's just single!
ROMO: Not anymore. I'm not single anymore.
STAUBACH: Well, that's good. You're not engaged, are you?
ROMO: No. (Laughs.)
SN: Roger, how would you describe Tony's career arc -- where he is compared with where he started and where he's going?
STAUBACH: Well, I think he's had a fantastic career even if he retired today. A lot of things are based on playoffs and Super Bowls, but there are 32 teams now -- it's not a piece of cake. But he's still winning. If I were starting a team in the National Football League, I'd take Tony as my quarterback.
SN: Over anybody else?
STAUBACH: I think there are four or five I wouldn't go wrong with. Peyton Manning's great, Tom Brady , Drew Brees, Tony Romo. He's right there with the best.
SN: Is being quarterback of the Cowboys a harder job now than it was in the '70s?
ROMO: I'd be pretending if I (said I) knew what it was like when Roger played. I do think that the Internet obviously makes it different. Then again, when there was only one game on television, it was such a big deal and the Cowboys became America's Team; there'd be one game on and it would be a Dallas Cowboys game. In that regard, it was almost bigger. I think athletes were kind of legends while they played a little bit. At least I felt that way when I was growing up.
STAUBACH: First we won, and then Tom Landry had this great image, so people liked us. ... Like Tony mentioned, right now there's the Internet and all the talk shows. There's a lot more of that today. Things were scrutinized back then; we had certain players who were single and active, but they didn't get near the exposure. It wasn't judged like it is with Tony.
But he works as hard as any player on the team, and that's the key. As long as your teammates know you're working hard. But with the media you have to be careful sometimes because perception can become the reality. All these TV and radio shows, they need content. The Cowboys are popular, so you get exposed.
SN: On the whole, are NFL quarterbacks better now than they were in Roger's day?
ROMO: I think--just throwing this out there--there are three or four special guys who separate themselves in each decade, and it might be only two or three sometimes. But then you have the next tier of really pretty good ones that just don't win the championships or do something that gets them over the hump. I would say there are more second-tier guys now, in that sense. If there were three or four dominant ones in the '70s, '80s and '90s, at the next level there would've been three or four guys there. Now, I feel there are eight or 10 that play at a high enough level that they could be considered in that second stage. And the bottom-level guys then probably weren't as good as the bottom-level guys now. But the best ones still, no question, would've risen to the top in any decade.
STAUBACH: Well, they throw the ball a lot more today, but why do you throw the ball a lot more today? The rules changes. If the linebackers were dropping back and (receivers) were getting smacked around right up until the throw, you couldn't hit guys down the field. If you completed 55 percent of the passes back in the old days, that would be equal to 65 today, I would think. As far as the quality of the players, they're bigger and faster today, so you can't take away that. You see college kids throw for 500 yards a game and then they get to the pro level and there's just not a weak person over there (on defense). You've got to have a strong arm, and also, mentally, you have to be able to have somewhat of a clue what's going on over there. You're playing against 11 great athletes over there.
Posted at 1:56 PM on Thu., Jul. 29, 2010 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Todd Archer / Reporter Bio | E-mail | News tips
During the spring the Sporting News had Tony Romo and Roger Staubach in for a conversation.
The piece is set to run Aug. 2.
Here are some excerpts sent along from the folks at the magazine:
SN: Tony, is there anything about your leadership and commitment that merits questioning to begin with?
ROMO: I don't know. The media can definitely shape you. The thing with me ... is that it's what your teammates and the people that see you see every day. The hardest thing for me would be if someone is a fake. If someone is going to tell everyone how hard he works and then I see him around here not working hard, that wouldn't last very long. If the media presents someone as "he whines all the time" or something, but we see he's not like that, then as teammates and a coaching staff we're fine with the guy as long as he's committed to the approach and doing things the right way. Whatever the media wants to present, that's just part of winning and losing.
SN: Roger, do you think Tony has been treated fairly?
STAUBACH: Fairly? I think people who are fans and understand sports know that he's a great quarterback. The most important thing is his teammates know that. That's what it's all about when you hit that field.
(CBS's) Phyllis George interviewed me one time at my house. She's in there with me and my wife, Marianne, and three of our kids right there on the couch. We were talking about Joe Namath being in New York having a great time. I said, "What are you trying to say, Phyllis? That I don't enjoy life or something?" I said, "I enjoy sex just like Joe Namath does. I just do it with one woman." That dang thing got all over the place, like I was some sort of weirdo.
I think Tony and I have different lifestyles, but on the field we're very similar. This guy wants to win, and he competes, and his teammates love him. They know how good he is. And he makes plays and he never complains. Off the field, he's a good guy. He's just single!
ROMO: Not anymore. I'm not single anymore.
STAUBACH: Well, that's good. You're not engaged, are you?
ROMO: No. (Laughs.)
SN: Roger, how would you describe Tony's career arc -- where he is compared with where he started and where he's going?
STAUBACH: Well, I think he's had a fantastic career even if he retired today. A lot of things are based on playoffs and Super Bowls, but there are 32 teams now -- it's not a piece of cake. But he's still winning. If I were starting a team in the National Football League, I'd take Tony as my quarterback.
SN: Over anybody else?
STAUBACH: I think there are four or five I wouldn't go wrong with. Peyton Manning's great, Tom Brady , Drew Brees, Tony Romo. He's right there with the best.
SN: Is being quarterback of the Cowboys a harder job now than it was in the '70s?
ROMO: I'd be pretending if I (said I) knew what it was like when Roger played. I do think that the Internet obviously makes it different. Then again, when there was only one game on television, it was such a big deal and the Cowboys became America's Team; there'd be one game on and it would be a Dallas Cowboys game. In that regard, it was almost bigger. I think athletes were kind of legends while they played a little bit. At least I felt that way when I was growing up.
STAUBACH: First we won, and then Tom Landry had this great image, so people liked us. ... Like Tony mentioned, right now there's the Internet and all the talk shows. There's a lot more of that today. Things were scrutinized back then; we had certain players who were single and active, but they didn't get near the exposure. It wasn't judged like it is with Tony.
But he works as hard as any player on the team, and that's the key. As long as your teammates know you're working hard. But with the media you have to be careful sometimes because perception can become the reality. All these TV and radio shows, they need content. The Cowboys are popular, so you get exposed.
SN: On the whole, are NFL quarterbacks better now than they were in Roger's day?
ROMO: I think--just throwing this out there--there are three or four special guys who separate themselves in each decade, and it might be only two or three sometimes. But then you have the next tier of really pretty good ones that just don't win the championships or do something that gets them over the hump. I would say there are more second-tier guys now, in that sense. If there were three or four dominant ones in the '70s, '80s and '90s, at the next level there would've been three or four guys there. Now, I feel there are eight or 10 that play at a high enough level that they could be considered in that second stage. And the bottom-level guys then probably weren't as good as the bottom-level guys now. But the best ones still, no question, would've risen to the top in any decade.
STAUBACH: Well, they throw the ball a lot more today, but why do you throw the ball a lot more today? The rules changes. If the linebackers were dropping back and (receivers) were getting smacked around right up until the throw, you couldn't hit guys down the field. If you completed 55 percent of the passes back in the old days, that would be equal to 65 today, I would think. As far as the quality of the players, they're bigger and faster today, so you can't take away that. You see college kids throw for 500 yards a game and then they get to the pro level and there's just not a weak person over there (on defense). You've got to have a strong arm, and also, mentally, you have to be able to have somewhat of a clue what's going on over there. You're playing against 11 great athletes over there.