FirstCuts: Señor Romo is no idiot

By Steve Greenberg

Sports don't start and end with a referee's whistle. FirstCuts, a blog dedicated to sports culture, will cover everything outside the lines, from the games to the gear -- and yes, the girls.

Big talk online today about Tony Romo's bye-week vacation in Mexico with Jessica Simpson, Simpson's parents and at least a couple of Romo's Cowboys teammates.

Big distraction talk, that is.

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As in, if Romo is wasting away in Margaritaville instead of blurring his eyes with extra film-room studying, it's a clear sign he isn't all that serious about this Super Bowl business. And if Romo -- whose outsized rep would seem to indicate a history of success at, um, winning playoff games -- isn't focused on football right now, the Cowboys' gooses are cooked.

I say: What a bunch of spazzes.

Not the Cowboys. I'm talking about the people who are upset that Romo is south of the border with his allegedly arm-weakening, brain-locking babe of a girlfriend.

Listen, don't you want your quarterback loose as a goose at playoff time? I know I do. Romo is not a Troy Aikman/Roger Staubach type; it's not in his nature to be on the straight and narrow, focused on the job, at all times. He's one of those guys who needs to blow off a little steam sometimes.

And he's not an idiot. He's not going to screw up the whole playoffs just for a couple days of Jessie time.

But if Romo plays poorly and the Cowboys lose -- next Sunday or the week after -- the spazzes will blame the growing organism that is Tonica anyway.

> Romo's Mexican vacation | The Big Lead

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.