As an NFL quarterback Tony Romo is required to learn an insanely large playbook (this includes numbers, words, AND combinations of both) simply so he can call the plays that
Romo is also required to know how to count to four, which seems reasonable enough. So you can imagine that there will be significant outrage (in fact, there already is) when people realize that this country's educational system has failed him.
How do I know that? Well, as Dallas' local FOX station points out (via SBNation), Romo has difficulty differentiating between "3" and "4".
During the final seconds of the game, Romo motions his linemen to get ready for the next play, then holds up three fingers, as if he thought the team had just completed the third down play.Romo then realized what was happening (NO idea how this guy isn't considered "clutch") and uttered an obscenity that the cameras picked up. The Cowboys released the following statement to make him look like less of an idiot:
As Tony was walking off the field after the fourth down play, he saw that the down marker on the Dallas sideline read 3. As it turned out, the marker was in the process of being changed, sequentially, from the number 4 to the number 1 for the Broncos ensuing possession. The marker on the Cowboys side read 3 temporarily. When he saw the 3, he thought there might have been the possibility of an error on the down count. After asking the officials (holding up three fingers), he then saw the down marker move through the progression from 3 to 2 to 1.Right. Okay. Sure. That doesn't change the fact that it was still fourth down. Which means that someone -- out of the 100-plus people involved in the game -- were going to catch it. The Cowboys weren't going to get a free third down because the dude with the chains wasn't flipping fast enough. (This assumes, of course, that Romo actually did know what down it was; I have no intention of believing that.)
Whatever, the Cowboys can keep running out these press releases -- the obvious truth is that Romo is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Derek Jeter when it comes to clutchatabilitiness quotient. He's the NFL's A-Rod but less charming.
