Jason Witten Talks About Pressure Tony Romo Faces Playing For Dallas Cowboys
By Mike Dyce
Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten went on WSNT in Baltimore to talk about many things. Rule changes and player safety, but as always, Tony Romo and his short comings and the pressure of playing for Dallas.
“I think, first and foremost, his expectations for himself are so much higher than anybody else,” Jason Witten said about Romo, via Sports Radio Interviews. “And when you don’t compete for a championship, especially in Dallas, you have one playoff win, the criticism’s gonna come.”
“But he embraces that. He doesn’t run from it. … I think Tony understands that he’s an elite quarterback that can do the same things. Not every quarterback can compete and lead their team to a championship; I think Tony can. He understands that. … I think he’s our leader and the guy that can do it for us, it’s just putting in the body of work. And you gotta have some breaks along the way, just like we saw Baltimore get some of those as well.”
Dallas fans have a lofty expectation for their team every year despite their mediocre performance and lack of post season success since the mid 90s. Until 1999, Dallas was strictly a football town. But the Stars have won a Stanley Cup in 1999, appeared in the Finals the next year. The Dallas Mavericks have been a perennial playoff team for over a decade, playing in two finals and winning one championship. And the Texas Rangers, the lowliest of DFW sports teams have won to American League pennants and played in two World Series.
But Dallas still loves their Cowboys and there is always the pressure of playing in the fish bowl that is Jerry World, aka Cowboys Stadium.
“It’s tough. I think it comes with the territory,” Witten said. “Winning can be great, and then the last two years not making the playoffs, it’s just tough. And it’s a tough market to play in, but all in all, you wouldn’t have it any other way.”
But that pressure shouldn’t deter people from playing for Dallas.
“That’s where you want to be and I’ve been fortunate to have been there the last 10 years. It’s a great organization and a lot of ways you feel like you’re close. We’ve had a chance to play for a division championship two years in a row and we came up short. So we gotta fix that, but I think we’ve got a good chance with a great quarterback, Tony, leading the way. A lot of talented players, we’ve just gotta come together just like we saw Baltimore and the way it came together for them.”