As much as football is a team game, quarterback success is defined by wins and Super Bowl trophies. There’s a reason no one of objectivity will sit back and compare Dan Marino to Joe Montana. It doesn’t work that way.
In order to be mentioned among the game’s best, a quarterback has to actually stand above others at that position at times throughout his career.
As the Tony Romo accolades keep pouring in from the NFL world following his “retirement,” there’s been a major debate on where he stands among his generation of quarterbacks. Statistically speaking, he’s among the best to ever suit up for the Cowboys. That’s hard to deny.
Then again, no one of sound judgment would compare Romo to the likes of Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, right?
Wrong.
If you ask former Dallas Cowboys receiver Miles Austin, the comparison itself makes perfect sense.
“I think you’ve got to put him up high. Obviously we didn’t get a chance to win a championship. But as far as statistically and what he did for the franchise, I think you’ve got to stack him up there, right among Troy, right among Staubach. I think you’ve gotta put him right on that tier,” Austin said, via NFL.com. “And you can stack them however you want based on championships and other things, but for me personally, what he’s done for me in my life and what I know he’s done for the organization, you’ve gotta respect that. And I do.”
We should preface these comments by indicting that Austin himself isn’t exactly objective on the matter. An un-drafted free agent like Romo, Austin played his first seven NFL seasons with the now retired quarterback tossing him the rock. During that span, the former Pro Bowler put up his only two 1,000-yard seasons.
Even then, this level of ridiculous must be pointed out. Sure Romo holds multiple Cowboys franchise marks, including passing yards and passing touchdowns. He also failed to lead the team to the playoffs in half of his eight seasons as Dallas’ full-time starting quarterback.
Boasting a 2-4 postseason mark, Romo doesn’t compare in any way to the success both Staubach and Aikman enjoyed in the Big D. Heck, Aikman won more Super Bowls than Romo won playoffs games. For his part, Staubach also hoisted two Lombardi trophies as a Cowboys starter.
Fair or not, it’s hard to even comprehend the comparison between Romo and these two Hall of Fame quarterbacks. At the very least, Austin seems to be going to bat for his former teammate. We can respect that.