Tony Romo played college football at Eastern Illinois, where he made an Ohio Valley Conference championship appearance in 2001 and won the Walter Payton Award the following year.
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74 Facts About Tony Romo
2.
Tony Romo signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2003.
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3.
Tony Romo led the Cowboys to four postseason appearances during his tenure, while receiving Pro Bowl honors amid each playoff run.
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4.
Tony Romo retired after the 2016 season when a preseason back injury caused him to lose his starting position to backup Dak Prescott.
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5.
Tony Romo holds several Cowboys team records, including passing touchdowns, passing yards, most games with at least 300 passing yards, and games with three or more touchdown passes.
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6.
Tony Romo held a higher passer rating in the fourth quarter than any other NFL quarterback from 2006 to 2013.
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7.
However, Tony Romo's reputation was affected by a lack of postseason success, having won only two of the six playoff games he appeared in and never advancing beyond the divisional round.
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9.
Tony Romo played baseball as a child and was selected to the Little League All-Star team.
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10.
Tony Romo started as quarterback for the Burlington High School Demons beginning as a junior .
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11.
Tony Romo was a starter on the Burlington High School varsity basketball team and played golf and tennis.
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13.
Tony Romo finished his career holding school and conference records with 85 touchdown passes.
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14.
Tony Romo threw for 34 touchdowns and scored one rushing touchdown.
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15.
Tony Romo is the first Eastern Illinois player to have his number retired.
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16.
Tony Romo did not initially receive an invitation to attend the 2003 NFL Combine, but received a late invitation to attend as an extra quarterback to throw passes to other prospects during drills.
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17.
Tony Romo entered the 2003 training camp third on the Cowboys' depth chart behind Quincy Carter and Chad Hutchinson.
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18.
Tony Romo faced being cut from the roster until Carter was released following allegations of substance abuse.
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20.
Tony Romo's first NFL pass was a 33-yard completion to wide receiver Sam Hurd.
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21.
Tony Romo's only other pass of the game was a two-yard touchdown pass, his first in the NFL, to wide receiver Terrell Owens.
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22.
On October 25, Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells announced that Tony Romo would be the Cowboys starting quarterback for the October 29 game against the Carolina Panthers on NBC Sunday Night Football, in Week 8 of the 2006 season.
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23.
Tony Romo aided the Cowboys in clinching a playoff spot, their second since Parcells became coach in 2003.
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24.
Tony Romo recovered the ball and attempted to run it in, but was tackled short of the first down marker, and turned the ball over on the Seattle 2-yard line.
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25.
Tony Romo finished the 2006 season ranked seventh in the NFC in passing yards and touchdown passes .
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26.
Tony Romo played in the 2007 Pro Bowl after Drew Brees went down with an elbow injury as a substitution for Marc Bulger.
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27.
Tony Romo threw one touchdown and one interception, and was the NFC's kickoff holder in the game.
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28.
Tony Romo stated that, while upset about the family crisis, he still had to continue to focus on his career.
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29.
Tony Romo became the second person in the history of Monday Night Football to throw five interceptions in a winning effort.
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30.
Tony Romo completed 24 of his 32 passes for a total of 320 yards and one touchdown.
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31.
Tony Romo completed 21 of his 30 passes for a total of 312 yards and three touchdowns.
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32.
That same month, Tony Romo signed a 5-year, $10 million endorsement deal with apparel marketer Starter, but was not allowed to wear footwear on the field as the company did not have a contract with the NFL.
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33.
Tony Romo completed 16 of his 27 passes for a then-career-high 353 yards along with three touchdowns.
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34.
Tony Romo completed 13 of 29 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown.
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35.
Tony Romo threw three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown for the Giants.
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36.
Tony Romo was quoted as saying, "We came out stale" against a Denver Broncos team that thoroughly shut down his teams passing and running attacks.
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37.
Tony Romo was successful in completing a 53-yard pass to Sam Hurd at the end of the second half but failed on the following three plays to get the ball in the end zone, which would have taken the game into overtime.
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38.
In week 15, Tony Romo led the Cowboys to a win against an undefeated team late in the season for the second time in his career.
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39.
Tony Romo finished the 2009 season as the first quarterback in team history to take every snap for a full season.
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40.
Tony Romo's eight 300 yard games was a team record, surpassing his own record from 2007.
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41.
In Week 5 against the Tennessee Titans, Tony Romo threw for a career-high 406 yards and three touchdowns.
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42.
Tony Romo threw for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns but threw two costly interceptions.
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43.
The injury occurred during the second quarter, when Tony Romo was driven to the turf by Giants linebacker Michael Boley.
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44.
Tony Romo had four fourth-quarter comebacks in 2011 and had a would-be game-winning field goal attempt missed against the Arizona Cardinals and a would-be game-tying field goal attempt against the New York Giants blocked .
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45.
In Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers, Tony Romo suffered a broken rib and a punctured lung on a hit from Carlos Rogers in the second quarter that forced him to miss part of the game.
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46.
Tony Romo came back in the final seconds of the third quarter and played the fourth quarter throwing for a touchdown and driving down the field for the game-tying field goal with four seconds left in the game to force overtime.
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47.
Tony Romo finished the game with 345 yards and two touchdowns with a 116.
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48.
Tony Romo played with a protective vest for a few games to protect his torso.
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49.
In Week 10, Tony Romo posted the second highest quarterback rating of his career with a rating of 148.
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50.
Tony Romo elevated his game in the last month of the season as he completed 72.
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51.
In Week 16 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Tony Romo suffered a severely bruised hand when he smashed it against an opposing player's helmet.
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52.
Tony Romo left the game after attempting just two passes with no completions.
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53.
Tony Romo started the game despite the hand injury the previous week.
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54.
Tony Romo posted 29 out of 37 passing for 289 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for a 106.
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55.
Tony Romo went 25-for-43 for 268 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
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56.
Tony Romo opened the season with a win over the New York Giants, passing for 263 yards and two touchdowns.
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57.
Tony Romo briefly left the game with a rib injury, but returned after halftime and finished the game.
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58.
In Week 8, a Monday night game against the Washington Redskins, Tony Romo went down with a back injury when linebacker Keenan Robinson sacked him, with his knee going into Tony Romo's back.
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59.
Tony Romo set his personal best quarterback rating in a single game with 151.
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60.
Tony Romo was 19-of-31 for 293 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
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61.
Tony Romo was 15-of-19 for 191 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
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62.
Tony Romo led the NFL in completion percentage and passer rating en route to the NFC East title, and he was ranked 34th in the NFL's list of the top 100 players of 2015, the highest undrafted player on the year's list.
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63.
Tony Romo started strong in the 2015 season, throwing a game-winning pass to Jason Witten with seven seconds left in the Cowboys' season opener against the New York Giants.
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64.
Tony Romo continued to show success in a week 2 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, but suffered a broken left collarbone in the third quarter after being sacked by linebacker Jordan Hicks.
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65.
Tony Romo returned to the starting lineup in a week 11 game against the Miami Dolphins.
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66.
Tony Romo was unable to start in the 2016 regular season after suffering a compression fracture to the L1 vertebra in his back during the Cowboys' third preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks.
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67.
Amid Prescott guiding the team to an eight-game winning streak, Tony Romo conceded his role as starting quarterback to Prescott and began serving as the Cowboys' backup when he returned to the active roster in Week 11.
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68.
Tony Romo warmed up with the team and sat in full uniform on the bench, but did not play in the game and was not considered an official member of the roster.
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69.
None of the ex-players and coaches in a lead position on other networks at the time of Tony Romo's hiring started their broadcasting career in the lead position.
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70.
In 2018, Tony Romo filled the vacancy of Jon Gruden in Corona's "Corona Hotline" commercials.
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71.
Tony Romo has maintained his recurring position in the series of advertisements, and many of the television ad spots feature his fantasy football advice.
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72.
In November 2007, Tony Romo began dating American singer and actress Jessica Simpson.
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73.
Tony Romo failed to make the cut in qualifying for Byron Nelson in 2008.
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74.
Tony Romo missed the cut with scores of 77 and 82, dead last in the 132-man field after the second round.
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