One of the Most Hated Athletes--- the Winner is: Tony Romo!

Yep that’s what the headline said on one of those all sports stations! The results of an online survey!

Dallas Cowboy Quarterback Tony Romo! Hell, he was ranked up there with the likes of Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods just to throw some names out there.

And as the survey said, the likes of Woods and Armstrong, are based on their problems away from their sport, but Romo… his has more to do with the fact that he is the quarterback for a team that has won only ONE playoff game since he took over the full time position of quarterback in 2006.

In 2007, he was rewarded for taking his team to 13-3, and somehow lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champions, New York Giants, in the first round of the playoffs… oh let’s not forget that he bobbled the snap on a field goal against the Seattle Seahawks in ’06, and that cost them that win.

Still, Tony Romo, is NOT a bad person, he has not lied to the media, cheated on his wife, took illegal substances to enhance his performance, he has not committed ONE fault, say one! He has not WON in the clutch, and for this—he is hated!

I don’t get it, I really don’t…. I mean in the 1980’s the Cowboy didn’t win a championship, albeit, that they went to the playoffs, and they continued to win at a pace that even the likes of the Celtics, the Maple Leafs and the Yankees only could dream of—they might have some championships in their trophy cases, but they cannot brag about 20 consecutive winning seasons! The Cowboys CAN!

However, lets talk about the 1980’s, that was a decade that saw the leaving of Roger Staubach and the emergence of Danny White, and for what it is worth, he had the same success as another Dallas Cowboy Quarterback had in the ‘60’s, who’s name is Don Meredith. He too, could not win the “Big One”… next years champions, but none the less, he lead the Cowboys out of the rag-tag mess that was the expansion team and brought them to the front page of newspapers, as he and the rest of those Cowboys, almost knocked off the Green Bay Packers as the best team in the NFL.

Then comes Craig Morton, who took the Cowboys to their first Super Bowl against the Baltimore Colts (yes children they were in Baltimore before Indianapolis), where they lost on a Jim O’Brien field goal to win it. It wasn’t until the following year that Coach Tom Landry handed the reigns over to the 1963 Heisman Trophy winner and let him lead the Cowboys right back to the Super Bowl and defeated the Miami Dolphins.

So when Captain America retired in 1979, the young man that was the teams punter and back up quarterback, took over and he steered the Cowboys to THREE NFC championship games, losing all three of them.

HOWEVER! In doing so, Danny White broke every record held by either Don Meredith, Craig Morton, or Roger Staubach in his career, he set new standards, that is until the end of 1989, when a young man out of UCLA came to town, and took over for the new owners and new coach and led this team back to the promise land for a few winning seasons. Troy Aikman, then took control of the record book, and then he had to retire. In doing so, the Cowboys went through quarterbacks such as Quincy Carter, Drew Bledsoe, just to name two that stood out, then came Tony Romo in a game against the Giants in the middle of the ’06 season, and led the Cowboys back to the playoffs.

We know that story, and now he we are just six years later, and again, we talk about how he can’t win in the clutch, can’t make it to the playoffs, yet, his Quarterback Rating is higher than Staubach, White, Aikman, and two of those three are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Romo also holds the Cowboys records for quarterbacks, and still, everyone is “hating” on him.

He is THIS generations Danny White. (Sorry Danny still love ya man) but the truth is, you can be the best at the position, but unless you have a running game, a blocking scheme that works, your butt is going to be on the turf, and you are going to be looking up at a lot of “Ugly” standing over you!

So instead of hating on the young man, lets see how in the off season, he can get some help!

For instance: A front line that blocks, and can open up holes for a running game to give the passing game a chance to develop instead of, everybody figuring that the Cowboys are going to have to pass to stay in the game or get the lead in the game.

How about a running game period, I like Felix Jones and I like DeMarco Murray, but they are not healthy runners, they seem to spend more time on the Injured list than on the playing field. OH and I know that the former Running Back for the Giants is now a free agent—hint hint!  I like Bradshaw for what its worth.

Tony Romo cannot do it all himself, I was disappointed when the Cowboys released Andre Gurode a couple of years ago, here was a guy that was a FIVE TIME ALL PRO CENTER, and you just don’t grow them on trees, and I get it about Leonard Davis, and maybe even Marc Columbo, but you need a guy like “a’ Gurode to anchor that line and keep them together.

My opinion is simple, you can hate on winners, like the Yankees (Evil Empire) or the even teams that became dynasties, like the Steelers, or the 49ers in the 80’s or the Celtics in their hey day, the Bulls, the Lakers, you see where this is going.

The Cowboys haven’t been to the SHOW in 17 years, and the last time they were there was against the aforementioned Steelers.

As fans we have called for Mr. Jones to remove himself as the General Manager, as fans we expect more from the Silver and the Blue, but AS fans, we have to place ourselves in the shoes of those who play the game, and that’s not easy to do. Tony Romo is hated, and he is on a list that says so, he was the 10^th player on the Forbes list, behind the likes of Michael Vick, Manti Te’o, Alex Rodriguez, and we already mentioned Lance Armstrong, and Tiger Woods.

One has to figure that there is better choices out there to hate, but if you are going to put a Cowboy on the list, why not the most visible there is, the Quarterback!

Just a thought!