Much Ado About Romo

While waiting for the turkey to cook, and for it to be 12pm so I can crack my first beer, I'm passing the time by watching SportsCenter. And I just heard Ed Werder say that with the injuries to Donovan McNabb and Matt Hasselbeck (who will return this week), and the inconsistencies of Michael Vick, Dallas Cowboys 4th-year rookie QB, Tony Romo, could go to Honolulu for the Pro Bowl this year.

What?

Romo does sport a nifty 100.0 passer rating in his 4 NFL starts, and that's nothing to sneeze a Still, it's only FOUR starts. ESPN did run some sound bytes of Bill Parcells discussing the manner at his weekly (or daily) press conference, where he called such talk "ludicrous", and accurately pointed out, and I'm paraphrasing here, that while everyone is focusing more on the good things Romo does, Parcells still sees the mistakes Romo makes. The Tuna even pointed out that last week, if pass interference wasn't called on a Romo pass to Terry Glenn, the Cowboys likely would've lost the game because the ball was intercepted by Colts safety Antoine Bethea.

The front-runners for the three Pro Bowl quarterback slots in the NFC have to be Drew Brees (New Orleans) and Marc Bulger (St. Louis). Brees leads the NFL with 3,114 yards, has a 95.1 QB rating (in 10 starts) and has the Saints in position to make the playoffs. Bulger has been in-credible this season. He's thrown just 3 interceptions (one of them was the equivalent to a pooch punt, and actually caused me to pound on the concession table at Qwest Field I was standing at when Ken Hamlin intercepted that 4th down throw) and his 93.9 QB rating on a 4-6 Rams team is impressive.

It's true that McNabb's injury will open up a spot on the NFC Pro Bowl roster, and if he continues to play this well, Romo will likely be in the discussion. But so won't Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Delhomme, two former Pro Bowl QBs on teams that lead their respective divisions. If the Bears go 15-1 or 14-2, Rex Grossman has to have a seat at the table, as well. Yes, he's inconsistent, but winning a lot of football games is a pretty good beard and Grossman is tied for 1st in the NFC in touchdown passes.

Speaking of the WorldWide Leader, ESPN analyst Michael Irvin has once again found himself embroiled in a situation where columnists, both black & white, are calling for his dismissal from the ESPN airwaves for comments he made regarding Tony Romo.

Basically, Irvin stated that the reason Tony Romo is so athletic is because somewhere in his lineage, there's "some brother in that line somewhere". Irvin went on to insinuate that possibly Romo's "great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandma pulled one of them studs up out of the barn...You know, back in the day."

Though it was done in a manner only Michael Irvin appears capable of, there's very little difference between what Michael Irvin said about Tony Romo (who is white) on the Dan Patrick Show and what Rush Limbaugh said about Donovan McNabb a few years ago on ESPN's Sunday Countdown. If ESPN quickly fired Limbaugh for his statements, why is Irvin getting a free pass for his comments?

Look, Irvin is easily the weakest link among ESPN analysts. Aside from inside access to Terrell Owens, Irvin contributes very little to their broadcasts. There's almost no reason for him to even be in Bristol, CT or on location at the Monday Night game in the first place, so if he's really going to make moronic statements like this, ESPN needs to treat him the same they treated Limbaugh.