I should've seen this coming. In the days leading up to a game against his childhood hero, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is distancing from Brett Favre.
He's completely butchering one of the easiest storylines in league history. The way Romo swatted away the inevitable comparisons frustrated columnists and bloggers across North Texas.
But some of us know better. Romo may have professed his love for John Elway, Jack Nicklaus and Michael Jordan during Sunday's locker room session at Valley Ranch, but Favre was more of an obsession .
Romo spent his youth studying the quarterback's every move, right down to the way he jogged onto the field at the start of each series. He pretended not to have a favorite Favre moment yesterday, but I once sat in J.G.'s Old-Fashioned Hamburgers (a must-visit) and listened to him rattle off moment after moment.
He didn't tell me this, but it's pretty evident that Tony thinks it's poor form to show too much reverence to a quarterback he's about to face with NFC home-field advantage at stake. Romo suggested a couple weeks ago that the Cowboys may have shown the Patriots a bit too much respect, and he doesn't want to make the same mistake Thursday.
"He's just on another level," Romo said. "He's just been doing it so long, he's been so great for so long that you just go out there and you watch him play...You just have to be yourself. And you have to just go out and do what you do. Obviously he's a great player and he's gonna give our defense a phenomenal test this weekend."
When Hash pressed Tony on why he insisted on hiding his feelings for Favre, he shot back, "I"m an NFL player. I want to go out and beat these guys."
I felt the Earth move under my feet: a running, shaking thread
