http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/sports/football/as-dallas-cowboys-hit-stride-tony-romo-pursues-his-legacy.html?_r=0
IRVING, Tex. — At 34, Tony Romo stands at a crossroads of his career and his legacy. There is only one criterion by which to judge what he has accomplished as quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys: Super Bowl appearances.
Appearances? Make that victories, which is what Cowboys fans in the 1990s began to view as their birthright after the team won three titles in four years.
But the Cowboys have not been back to the Super Bowl since beating the Steelers to end the 1995 season. They had not been in the playoffs since the 2009 season.
So the scrutiny again will be on Romo, whatever unfolds Sunday against the Detroit Lions or beyond in these N.F.L. playoffs. As it was for his predecessors Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach. Romo understands the harsh reality that Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh won’t be the only one putting pressure on him.
“It’s all about winning,” Romo said. “That’s the only reason you play the game. You’re judged as quarterback and coaches on that. That’s what the game is all about. That’s why you have to play great when it counts.”
A victory over the Lions at AT&T Stadium would send the Cowboys to Green Bay and further fuel expectations. Should the Lions win, they would advance to play at Seattle, and a fresh set of demons would descend on Jerry Jones and the franchise he has owned a month short of 26 years.
Speaking of Romo, Jones said: “Frankly, I don’t know how you could have any more appreciation, and I say that in a positive way, for what he is as a quarterback without having actually played in and competed within a Super Bowl. The credit that he really should receive will have to be at the point when he’s playing in a big game, the big game: the Super Bowl.”
The Cowboys are 1-3 in the playoffs with Romo as the starting quarterback. His first loss came on a soggy night in Seattle when, as the holder on field-goal attempts, he mishandled the snap on a potential game-winning kick in the final minutes. His second loss was after the 2008 bye week in which he and his girlfriend at the time, the actress and singer Jessica Simpson, along with tight end Jason Witten, took a trip to Mexico, prompting criticism that Romo was not taking his job seriously enough. The Cowboys were beaten by the Giants, who went on to win the Super Bowl.
“We missed big-time opportunities there with Tony Romo,” Jones said. “We know that, and that’s as it is. Consequently, everybody in the organization, including Tony, paid a price for that. You’ve got to get them. When it comes up and you’ve got a chance to get them, you’ve just got to take advantage of them.”
The Cowboys finally broke through with a wild-card victory over the Philadelphia Eagles the next season before being trounced in the divisional round by the Minnesota Vikings. A four-year run of mediocrity, including three consecutive 8-8 seasons, followed.
“As players, we all want to be playing in that game and holding that trophy at the end of the year,” Romo said. “Just hoist it up and know that you accomplished your goal that you set. I know that’s my goal. I mean, everything else is just peanuts compared to it.”
Romo said there was some truth to the notion that earlier in his career, he took it for granted that playoff opportunities would be commonplace.
“More than anything, you just know that every season is a different season,” Romo said. “I was around football enough to know, three or four seasons before then, how tough it can be.”
Romo has reached a statistical level in which he should be exempt from criticism. He put together perhaps his finest season, throwing for 3,705 yards and 34 touchdowns, with 9 interceptions, while completing a career-high 69.9 percent of his passes. He became the team’s career passing leader in the season’s penultimate game against the Indianapolis Colts. It was finally a December to remember, too, as he and the Cowboys shrugged off recent late collapses and went 4-0 to finish 12-4 and capture the N.F.C. East title. (Romo had 12 touchdown passes and one interception for the month.)
Romo led the N.F.L. with a 113.2 rating this season, and the five players ranked behind him — in order, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees — attest to his elite status.
Romo is the only one on that list without a Super Bowl ring.
“The reason Jerry Jones pays anyone in this locker room the amount of money that he pays them is not so they can win division titles,” Aikman said Friday. “It wasn’t why he paid me. There’s more to it to that. Whatever that ultimately means is not for me to decide. But for quarterbacks and coaches, our legacies are defined by what we’ve done in the postseason.”
These Cowboys would be energized by the chance to face the Packers at Lambeau Field. Dallas was 8-0 on the road this season, an improbable run made even more remarkable by the fact that the Cowboys were not expected to do much better than the 8-8 records they posted the last three seasons.
“This team goes in with as much confidence and hitting their stride more than any team he’s been on,” Aikman said. “I think they’re playing as well as anybody, not only in the N.F.C., but as anybody in football.”
Which puts even more pressure on Romo to add a victory to his postseason résumé and etch a legacy that has so far eluded him.
