Tony Romo on Dez Bryant and Terrell Owens: 'I think Dez is misunderstood'
By Peter Dawson
Tony Romo seems to be everywhere this week.
On Thursday, he made his PGA Tour debut at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship (odds makers list his chances of making the cut at 15 to 1).
On Wednesday, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback went on the Then and Now with Brad Sham podcast to discuss a little bit of everything. But the main topics of discussion were wide receivers Dez Bryant and Terrell Owens.
Romo had a lot to say about the two brash pass catchers:
"They're both a little different. That's the first part. I was also different. When I was coming in with T.O., T.O. was a more established, veteran presence. He could control the mood a little bit around multiple people. That wasn't the case when I was with Dez. When I was with Dez, I was established and I was the veteran presence. I was the one necessarily telling him how you want things done. Now you'd tell that to T.O., but he'd also tell you a little bit. They're different players a little bit, too. I think T.O. had this rare burst and ability to glide almost.
"I used to relate Randy Moss and him when they were in their prime. Randy Moss was like Michael Jordan in that he would go up and his shoulders would be soft and he'd move the ball a little bit, and then he'd flip it with his left hand softly off the backboard on the other side. And then T.O. was like LeBron (James) where he was just like I'm coming at you and you're in my way. With T.O. you wanted to use that explosive, straight-line speed and the physicality. So slants, things that Dez does well as well.
"But Dez's rare trait was over his head. I've never really seen another guy, maybe Calvin Johnson, but I've never really seen a guy be able to do the things he does. He still has that capability. Dez is never actually covered even when he's covered. That's a rare trait. If he was singled up, if you could put the ball in a certain spot he could always get it. There's not really another guy that I ever played with who could do that. It kind of simplifies the offense a little bit in a sense. If Dez was kind of by himself, you'd just throw 15-20 yards, above his head 3 yards and however you want to guard him it doesn't matter. You can't go get that ball, he can. I worked hard with him at that because that throw requires timing, precision. You gotta throw it hard. But then when you get it, it moves the chains pretty quickly.
"As far as personality between the two, they're also a little bit different. I think Dez is misunderstood in a lot ways. I know there a times where he can get talking and be volatile on the sideline and stuff, but a lot of it is positive. I've had every receiver who wants the ball. I think what you'll find is there's so many personalities on the football field. When the receivers are more demonstrative on the sideline and stuff, they're just more demonstrative than offensive linemen. But people can be pouty in different ways. They can do anything in different ways. They just are vocal sometimes where you can see it on camera.
"I never had a problem really with either one of them. Even though T.O. got to the point toward the end, got to the point where he was very frustrated, he definitely was showing that on a daily basis where he might not talk to to you for a little bit. Dez would never do that. But at the same time, I never thought there was deep malice involved where they were trying to sabotage things that I've seen. What happens, ultimately, is as long as your production is high, they give you more wiggle room. When the production starts getting lower, the wiggle room gets less for some of the things that people perceive to be antics."
