Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is usually reserved when it comes to speaking out about the issues of the day around the NFL. For the veteran, it had in the past been about not creating much controversy when speaking publicly.
That’s no longer the case.
Romo, who finds himself in the news after his first annual fantasy football convention in Las Vegas was cancelled due to NFL concerns over player involvement, spoke out about the cancellation on ESPN Radio with Colin Cowherd (h/t Pro Football Talk):
“They talk about how no players or NFL personnel are to be associated (with casinos), well, I’m like, that doesn’t really make sense,” the veteran quarterback said. “There’s just far too many cases and it does make it sound sometimes that it’s an issue about money, which is disappointing because we were just trying to get the fans to hang out with players.”
Romo also called the league’s letter to event organizers a “scare tactic.”
The issue here for many is that the convention has been planned for months now. By stepping in and expressing its concern over league rules last week, the NFL waited until the last minute to force the event’s cancellation. The convention, which was set for July 10-12, came at a cost of about $200.00 per ticket. In addition to this, many had already reserved plane tickets and hotel rooms for the event.
Romo doesn’t appear to be the only player upset about the cancellation.
Expect to hear a lot more about this story in coming days and weeks. Plenty of big-name players and agents are less than pleased…
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) June 9, 2015
I reckon Mr. Romo only bites his tongue for so long before he vents about the NFL himself, and he's usually pretty reserved. Stay tuned
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) June 9, 2015
While Romo took to ESPN to vent about the event’s cancellation, teammate Dez Bryant used Twitter as a medium to do the same:
@tonyromo don't understand whenever they make shit load of money off of us smh…..
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) June 6, 2015
It’s a shame that the NFL would go to these lengths in order to cancel an event that was set to create a relationship between players and fans. It’s also a shame that the league would utilize a double standard when squashing the convention. After all, the New Orleans Saints hold training camp at Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia—a resort that houses a casino.
The convention has since been rescheduled for next year in Los Angeles.
Photo: USA Today Sports