On Friday, December 8, 2006, my wife and I had the following conversation…
“So… what are you going to wear to the Redskins game on Sunday?”
“What? I don’t know. Does it matter?”
“What do you always wear on gamedays?”
“But they’re playing the Eagles” (My buddy Kris, a huge Redskins fan, got three tickets to see the Redskins play the Eagles at FedEx Field. James, another Cowboys fan, was joining us.)
“Don’t you always wear Cowboys jerseys on the day that they’re playing? And the Cowboys are playing on Sunday, aren’t they?” (They were hosting the Saints on Sunday Night Football.)
“Yes, but…”
“Wuss.”
And so it was, that I walked into FedEx Field on December 10, 2006, wearing my brand new Tony Romo jersey, as the Eagles battled the Redskins. James, to his credit, wore one of my old Emmitt Smith jerseys in solidarity.
At the beginning of that season, Tony Romo was mostly an unknown commodity, even to Cowboys fans. But on Monday night, October 23rd against the New York Giants, Cowboys starting QB Drew Bledsoe threw an ugly interception to Sam Madison just before halftime. That was the last pass Bledsoe would throw in the NFL and the Romo era was born in the 3rd quarter (whose first pass was also an interception).
Romo would go 5-1 over the next six games, taking the league by storm. After the Cowboys dynasty ended in the 90s, I had been wary about buying new jerseys, but I ordered a new Romo jersey almost immediately. And the first time I wore it in public, was at FedEx Field where BOTH teams fans would heckle me for three hours.
I’m on the train from NYC to Maryland and I’m wearing that jersey now, 13 years later, bruised and battered, not unlike Romo himself at this point. I would argue that he’s one of the most underrated players in NFL history and I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive Jerry Jones for his inability to surround Romo with decent players.
I’ll spend the rest of today reminiscing, but those days are gone. Tomorrow I’ll put on my much newer Dak Prescott jersey as I march back into FedEx. It’s a new era.