Commentary: Sorry Cowboys fans, Romo not worthy of Canton

Although it’s been several weeks since Tony Romo decided to trade in his shoulder pads and football helmet for a broadcaster’s blazer and microphone, there are plenty of Cowboys fans out there still talking about him.

For reasons that are impossible to understand, these fans continue to believe that the future of their beloved NFL franchise would be better off in the hands of the injury-prone 37-year old instead of the now proven young rookie Dak Prescott.

What’s more, their love of ol’ No. 9 has left them obviously unobjective.

The brief conversation between two Cowboys T-shirt-wearing gentlemen in line at the local grocery store went like this:

COWBOYS FAN 1: Do you still have your Romo jersey?

COWBOYS FAN 2: Of course. I want to get a Prescott or Ezekiel (Elliott) one, but I’m keeping it (Romo jersey).

COWBOYS FAN 1: I know. I’m keeping mine, too. I figure I can always wear it when he gets elected to the hall of fame.

COWBOYS FAN 2: Exactly!

Surely these clearly irrational fans were referring to the Dallas Cowboys hall of fame and not the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Either that or the guys knew there were on some kind of hidden camera show and wanted to get a good laugh because there is no way Tony Romo is worthy of a gold jacket.

Yes, Tony was a good, solid pro quarterback with plenty of impressive regular-season stats to back his worth up.

During his 14 seasons as the Cowboys’ QB, Romo threw for 34,183 yards, 248 touchdowns and had a 97.1 rating. But all these numbers prove is that he will go down as statistically the greatest quarterback in Cowboys history. However, even the most ardent Cowboys fan has to admit that Romo will never be on the same level as Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach, who have five super bowl rings between them.

But it’s not just about Romo’s lack of championships that makes him unworthy of the Hall of Fame. After all, there are plenty of quarterbacks in Canton who never won the big one, including Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton, Warren Moon and, of course, Jim Kelly, who actually lost two of his four to the Cowboys.

No, what really makes Romo undeserving of a call to Canton is his truly pathetic lack of success in the postseason and his inability to win when it mattered most.

For all his gaudy numbers, Romo had only six playoff starts in his career and despite being surrounded with plenty of talent on a franchise that is completely committed to winning, was only able to win two postseason games, never leading his team past the divisional round.

Even Marino, who is considered by many to be a huge playoff flop in his own right, played in 18 postseason contests, including a Super Bowl, and walked away with eight wins.

The bottom line is that Romo was never the guy who stepped up in crucial situations and carried his team on his back. It literally wasn’t strong enough.