Turf Show Times
Does this quote hit close to home?
The saddest part…the end may be sooner than any of us want to think it is… While I have firmly believed the [team name redacted] should address the quarterback position via the draft for the past couple years, I have always thought it would be so that [player name redacted] could train the young player and we could have a seamless transition in a couple of years.
I found this passage researching the end of Tony Romo’s career with the Dallas Cowboys, and it sounds eerily similar to the current dilemma between the Los Angeles Rams and Matthew Stafford’s back. Romo had an injury-filled career in Dallas. Ultimately his undoing came at the hand of a back injury.
Romo missed the 2016 preseason when rookie fourth-round pick Dak Prescott came onto the scene. The Rams have their own part to play in this story, as Prescott made his NFL debut against Los Angeles in an exhibition game and completed 10 of 12 passes for 139 yards with two scores (ALL IN THE FIRST HALF).
This wasn’t supposed to be the end of Romo’s career. It helps that an alternative presented itself to the Cowboys and forced their hand. The Rams do not seem to have this luxury in 2025, though Stetson Bennett looks like a completely different player through two meaningless preseason games.
As Stafford’s mysterious absence continues to lengthen, it seems worthwhile to revisit the end of Romo’s career. The past is prologue after all.
One key difference between Stafford and Romo, Romo injured his back in a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. While in the following days it was thought the Cowboys quarterback was in the clear, Romo felt continued discomfort until reports broke that he had fractured his spine.
A few minutes later, all seemed right with the world and Tony was begging to go back in. During his post-game press conference he talked about dodging a bullet and he felt good enough that the team didn’t even bother to x-ray him.
I was a little less optimistic, which is odd to type. I told my father in a phone conversation, “you know Tony. This guy went back into a game with a punctured lung… the team needs to not take his word on this and do an x-ray to be safe.”
And, two days later, with Romo still in “discomfort” (an understatement if there ever was one), they did. The actual results weren’t disclosed, but Todd Archer reports it’s an L1 compression fracture.
The first thing that comes to mind reading this is how Romo and Stafford sound similarly stoic. They both were among the toughest at the quarterback position in their eras, though back injuries are fickle and not something you can simply power through. The original timeline for Romo’s return was 6-10 weeks.
But [Romo didn’t get his job back even...
