Tony Romo for MVP? Jerry Jones, teammates say so

Most people didn’t take Tony Romo too seriously when he declared that his best football was ahead of him in training camp.

That proved not to be too far-fetched and now his owner and teammates are calling for him to get MVP consideration.

Romo certainly seems to have a case with one week left in the regular season to join others such as Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, New England’s Tom Brady and Houston’s J.J. Watt.

Romo has led the Cowboys to an NFC East title after a 42-7 win over the Colts on Sunday, and currently has the best passer rating in the league at 114.4.

Rodgers has a 108.1, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger has a 103.8 and Denver’s Peyton Manning has a 106.4 heading into Monday night.

“He is the MVP,” wide receiver Dez Bryant said. “Look at the performance. You give him hell in December. He goes 3-0 in December. That’s icing on the cake. Give it to him. He is doing a helluva job.”

Said owner Jerry Jones: “He is certainly in my book. And yes he is. [DeMarco] Murray has certainly carried his share. But Tony his quarterbacking this year is indispensable. We couldn’t have had a team. and we got a team this year that is one of the top four or five teams in the league. That’s a pretty good qualification.”

Romo has won all three starts in December, completing 61 of 77 passes for 688 yards with 10 touchdowns, no interceptions and a 143.5 passer rating.

Romo also passed Troy Aikman on Sunday for the most career passing yards in Cowboys history. He hasn’t kept many balls in his career, but he’ll keep his record-breaking pass, a 25-yard TD to tight end Jason Witten.

“I know I hold them at the end of games, but then I give them to somebody and forget about them,” Romo said. “Yeah, we’ve got game balls stored away [at home], and I’m sure we’ll put them together some day so the kids can see their dad did something at one time.”

Emmitt Smith is the only Cowboys player ever to win league MVP, taking it in 1993.

“Romo MVP, Romo MVP, that’s all you need to know,” veteran defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. “He believes in himself. He believes in his teammates. And we believe in him. That’s what’s making our team special.”

This story was originally published December 21, 2014 at 10:22 PM with the headline "Tony Romo for MVP? Jerry Jones, teammates say so."