Dallas Cowboys New Quarterback Has Promising History

ony Romo had a strong showing in the 2005 preseason and was named the second-string backup behind Drew Bledsoe. In the 2006 preseason, Romo had one of the best games in his career against the Seattle Seahawks. Romo's first NFL pass resulted in a 34 yard reception to Sam Hurd vs. the Houston Texans on October 15, 2006. During the same game, Romo threw his first NFL touchdown pass to Terrell Owens. Romo replaced Drew Bledsoe for the start of the 2nd half this past Monday against the Giants. His first pass was intercepted but he would later throw another touchdown to Terrell Owens and score the two point conversion himself.

Tony Romo grew up in Burlington, Wisconsin, playing high school football at Burlington High School, and played his college ball at Eastern Illinois University, where he broke school and conference records as a quarterback. On Dec. 19, 2002, Tony Romo was the first player in Eastern Illinois and Ohio Valley Conference history to win the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the nation's top player at the NCAA Division 1-AA level. He finished his career holding school and conference records with 85 touchdown passes. He was brought in by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2003 training camp as an undrafted rookie free agent, and is now the starting quarterback.

Bledsoe has been inconsistent all season and behind a poor offensive line has been sacked far too often for the Cowboys to be successful. Dallas Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells has been a supporter of Bledsoe in the past, but is going to Romo in hopes of saving the season for the Cowboys.

Romo and the Cowboys are a 6 point underdog to Carolina on Sunday night with a total of 40.5.

Romo is also a good amateur golfer, and attempted to qualify for the 2004 EDS Byron Nelson Championship and the 2005 U.S. Open, but missed the cut. During the off-season he is known to play golf around Dallas and is also a frequent guest on local sports radio programs. Tony Romo has been the co-host of "Inside the Huddle", a one-hour player commentary show that airs on ESPN Radio in Dallas.

Romo is adored by his alma mater, which has not had many pro athletes. Mike Shanahan, coach of the Denver Broncos, also played quarterback for Eastern Illinois University. In addition to Shanahan, Sean Payton and Brad Childress also played for Eastern Illinois.