Cowboys’ Romo — feeling better than ever — has new sponsor

Life is good for Tony Romo.

He’s as healthy and strong on the field as he’s been in three years.

And following arguably the best season of his career, Romo’s off-the-field profile is as high as it’s ever been.

That was evident Saturday when he donned a new hat for his interview session with the media.

“Under Armour, baby,’’ Romo said of his new endorsement contract.

Romo, 35, was recruited to Under Armour by golfer and good friend Jordan Speith.

He is the third NFL quarterback to sign with the manufacturer, joining Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers.

“Oh yeah, he pushed,” Romo said of Speith. “It was good. I think they have a lot of great people. They obviously have a bright future. They’ve taken off recently. I think it’s a no-brainer. They’re young, they’re aggressive, they’re the same things you want to be as a player. I’m excited to be a part of the group.”

It’s his first national endorsement contract since he left Starter in 2013. It comes on the heels of a Pizza Hut commercial during the Super Bowl and an ad for DirecTV where he plays alter ego “Arts and Crafts” Tony Romo.

He also appeared in the hit movie Trainwreck.

Romo said there hasn’t been a conscious effort to raise his profile. Things are fitting together right now.

“It always has to work in unison,” Romo said. “They have to like you and you have to like the brand. There’s plenty of things, you’re just like, that’s fine, money-wise, but it just doesn’t work. You don’t necessarily want to be involved with every company.

“Like I said, Under Armour was a no-brainer. And on top of it, the way that they represent themselves. It’s young, it’s cool, it’s kind of hip. It’s stuff you want to wear. My kids wore Under Armour all day long before I ever signed on. So it was like it was just an easy fit. And my wife gets to order stuff, so she’s excited.”

Owner Jerry Jones is excited what he’s seen so far from Romo the first two weeks of training camp. Romo had a full off-season for the first time since 2012 after coming into camp the past two seasons recovering from back surgery.

Romo is coming off a 2014 season in which he rebounded from back surgery to have the best performance of his career, throwing 34 touchdowns against only nine interceptions and leading the league in completion percentage (69.9), yards per attempt (8.5), passer rating (113.2) and game-winning drives (5).

Jones believes he can be even better this season.

“What I’m seeing out here is Tony Romo at his best,” Jones said.

Romo proved to be Nostradamus when he predicted last year in training camp that he would have the best season of his career despite coming off back surgery, and being limited throughout training camp.

“I feel good,” Romo said. “It’s been, like I said before, I have a stronger base than I did starting out last year. You go out and you have to figure out where that is going to be during camp. You don’t throw and do everything as much at any other point during the year as you do in this month, so you have to make sure you’re always doing things the right way to give yourself the best chance to go out on the field, and I’ve been able to do that.”

Because he is stronger and healthier, Romo is making and attempting throws in camp that he would only try in games last year. He is doing them with more ease, rather than having to consciously try to get his lower body into the throw to get more zip.

“Early in the year I wasn’t able to do certain things,” Romo said. “I could still cut it [loose], but there’s different forms of cutting it, and on top of it there’s different techniques to cutting it. There’s the one where you’re fundamentally with a strong base where you’re able to go through three, four progressions without a ton of movement with your lower body.

“Then there’s other ones where it’s like I’m going to have to move my lower body and get my body weight through this to get the ball there. So I almost have to put myself in position to guess and throw it instead of being quiet with your base and going through all the progressions.”

Coach Jason Garrett noticed a more complete Romo than last season, which benefits the entire offense.

“It’s a tribute to what he’s done the last couple of years coming off these back injuries that he’s had to deal with and to think about playing quarterback in the National Football League and having to practice in a way where your work is a little bit modified and then having to go play as well as he has in games,” Garrett said.

“It’s really a tribute to him. It’s good to see him back out there, he’s in all the drills, he’s moving around, he looks like himself and not only his movement with his feet, but like you said, he’s able to make more of the spontaneous throws that we’ve seen him make throughout his career. So he clearly is stronger. I think he feels better.

“Having said that, we’ve got to make sure we monitor him. But he’s certainly much further along physically than he has been in the past.”

The back injuries might have helped Romo become a better quarterback because he has had to focus so much more on his technique. That technical expertise combined with his renewed physical health has Romo believing he is at his best, even in his 13th year.

Life is good for Romo.

This story was originally published August 8, 2015 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Cowboys’ Romo — feeling better than ever — has new sponsor."