Tony Romo Eager to Put Terrell Owens, 2008 Season Behind Him

CARROLLTON, Texas -- Tony Romo sits on a small set of bleaches wearing a blue baseball hat turned backward with a beard sprouting from his face.

Romo looks like the second-line center for the Bruins instead of the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, who just completed the first day of organized team activities on Tuesday. But Romo is getting paid to lead the Cowboys. Last year, Romo led them to a 9-7 finish and a seat on the couch for the postseason.

Romo put up decent numbers, second in the NFL in touchdown percentage and eighth in quarterback rating despite missing three games with a broken pinkie.

But 2009, more than any other season for Romo, is about him.

The Cowboys released Terrell Owens and owner Jerry Jones said the decision was bigger than him. Jones stated he wants the 2009 Cowboys to be more "Romo friendly."

"I haven't even heard it, I don't know," Romo said when asked what Jones meant. "I would be speculating, I let somebody else talk. I don't know."

One theory is that Owens got on Romo's nerves so much that it prevented the quarterback from reaching his full potential.

In his three years as the starter, though, Romo needed Owens.

Since 2006, Romo and Owens combined for the most touchdowns in the league at 34. That's more than Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress (26), and more than Tom Brady and Randy Moss (23). Romo has thrown for 10,562 yards in his career with 81 touchdowns in 41 regular-season games -- Owens was on the receiving end of 3,122 of those yards, more than anybody on the team.

"It's always hard to replace a guy as good a player as he is," Romo said. "That's happened a few times when we lose a guy that's a good player for whatever reason."


The Cowboys have placed the passing-game portion of their offense in the hands of former Lion Roy Williams. Last season, after the Cowboys traded for Williams, a chemistry didn't materialize. Romo missed the first three games of Williams' life with the Cowboys recovering from that broken pinkie. When Romo returned, he acted as if Williams didn't exist.

Williams had zero touchdown catches, and in the biggest games of the season -- the regular-season finale at Philadelphia -- he had two catches for four yards and two drops. Dallas' loss there eliminated them from the postseason.

In the offseason, the Cowboys made the decision to go with younger receivers Miles Austin, Sam Hurd and Isaiah Stanback to complement Williams and Patrick Crayton, entering his sixth season, to shape the receiving core.

In the process, the Cowboys let a potential Hall of Famer -- who demanded the ball -- go.

"Its going to figure itself out," Romo said. "Either we're going to be able to [succeed] or you're not. [Owens] is a great player and it's always difficult to replace someone who's had the success and been as dominant a player as he's been over the years, but guys have got to pick up the slack."

Will they pick up the slack for Romo?

Part of making things "Romo friendly" is for the quarterback to control the team. Toward the end of last year, Owens had taken over. Owens, Williams and Crayton griped to offensive coordinator Jason Garrett about the direction of the offense. The trio complained that Romo threw too much to his best friend, tight end Jason Witten.

When the Cowboys cut Owens, players such as starting running back Marion Barber, veteran outside linebacker Greg Ellis, Crayton and former Dallas defensive end Chris Canty all said the wide receiver was the scapegoat for a non-playoff finish.

In some ways, the decision to cut Owens led to the perception that Romo had something to do with it. He denied that on Tuesday.

"That's not for any of us players to decide," Romo said. "That's why we're players, and management and the organization decides those things. We're all at risk every offseason, depending upon on everything, and so you always want to go out there and try and have all the guys you always play with every year [to stay], but it just doesn't happen that way."

But an important question remains heading into the 2009 season: Does Romo have to win over the team?

He's been working hard with Williams in the offseason to develop that bond that was missing last year. Williams said he's happy with how things are going.

Owens is in Buffalo now and the Cowboys have to move on without him. If they can't, Romo's career as a starter won't look any better come next January.