By JIM REEVES
revo@star-telegram.com
IRVING — Tony Romo’s Valley Ranch locker was crowded Wednesday, both inside and out.
Cameramen had already strategically placed their footstools in a semicircle facing the locker, which was stacked with pads and practice uniforms. Jerseys and T-shirts hung on hangers, fighting for space with boxes full of shoes.
Three pairs of football shoes sat atop the locker. Two pairs of shower shoes rested on the seat in front. Another pair of flip-flops were on the floor.
Romo may or may not know what down it is at any given moment, but he doesn’t lack for footwear.
But Fourth Down Tony was a no-show.
At 12:15 p.m., 45 minutes after the locker room opened to the media, we were ushered out without getting even a peek of the beleaguered Cowboys quarterback.
Thank goodness for our friends in Kansas City. You see, Tony may be putting off facing the local media as long as possible, but he did consent to do the weekly conference call for the out-of-town media this week.
He should know everything there is to know about the Internet by now, so he also should have known there would be no sneaking through that without someone bringing up the did-he-know-it-was-fourth-down-or-not controversy.
"I think that story already was set straight," Romo replied when the question came, apparently referring to the Cowboys’ rather odd limited news release late Tuesday in which the team’s PR staff offered up an explanation for Romo’s strange reaction after the final play of the game Sunday in Denver. "I think someone just kind of took something and ran with it.
"It was fourth down and everyone knew it was fourth down. We called it in the huddle. The play-call we had was our fourth down play. I told the guys, 'Last play.’ "
Romo repeated on the phone what media relations director Rich Dalrymple said the quarterback had told him Tuesday, that Romo saw the "3" on the down marker as it was being sequentially changed and had a flash of hope for a moment.
"I just thought the refs might have screwed up," he told the KC writers. "Believe me, if I had thought we had an extra down [coming], I would have been going crazy out there."
It would have been nice if Tony had told us the same thing Wednesday, which over the years has been his normal day to speak to the local media before practice. That’s been almost as erratic this year, though, as his on-field play.
For the record, I’m not sure this fourth-down controversy, did-he-know-or-didn’t-he, is all that big a deal anyway. Maybe he did lose track of a down after spiking the ball to stop the clock on second down at the 2 following a 6-yard pass to Patrick Crayton on first down.
Does that really change anything? Would he have thrown the ball differently on that last play? Waited another millisecond? Would it have mattered?
Doubtful.
I’d much rather know the thinking behind throwing twice in a row for Sam Hurd, who was defended by veteran NFL cornerback Champ Bailey. Or whether someone reamed Hurd a new one for not getting out of bounds to stop the clock, not once but twice in the final 1:16 of the game.
Looking for comments?
Share
@Nyx.CommentBody@