Remembering his roots: Romo will never forget where he came from

In 12th year, Tony Romo Camp bigger and better than ever

 

Like fine wine, Tony Romo seems to get better with age.

Not only on the football field, where he enjoyed his best individual and team success just five months ago, but more importantly in his hometown and with the family.

With a beautiful wife and boys, millions in the bank, NFL fame, dozens of interests requesting his presence and near-movie star celebrity status, Burlington, Wis. would scowl but eventually understand if the 1998 Burlington High School graduate had to miss a year of his annual Tony Romo Football Camp.

But with the camp’s 12^th season once again attracting hundreds of family, friends, fans and youth last week in Burlington, one thing is clear – this man unconditionally loves his hometown.

Romo always tries to better himself in every way, every day, at all times. He may have eclipsed his high expectations this year.

The camp originated as a two-day event but dropped to one day in recent years.

This year, Romo not only added a day, but he also added a 7-on-7 football tournament with the best area schools, ripe with a plaque for the winner and everything.

It wasn’t just some event, but also a Border Battle, a rare instance in local sports where teams from Wisconsin and Illinois get to play each other and let out some of that good, old-fashioned angst between the two states.

If that wasn’t enough, Romo granted me the privilege of an exclusive, 1-on-1 interview, my first in seven years of covering the event.

Romo is on top of the world in both his personal and professional lives, and he’s not afraid to bring the family to his camp.

Moreover, for a low fee, he gives priceless knowledge and insight to the place that raised him with strong values of respect, hard work and generosity.

What other NFL quarterback goes back to his hometown and puts on an affordable camp, and legitimately does it out of the goodness of his heart?

Tony’s refreshingly real, and he will never forget where he comes from. He even takes it a step further and credits Burlington for his success.

“It lets you know you wouldn’t be where you’re at without all of the people that helped you in your life,” said Tony on what coming back home means. “There’s so many people, you can’t even name them all. It’s good to see a lot of people again and get a chance to connect.”

Last Wednesday and Thursday, he interacted with droves of people at Burlington High School, seamlessly bouncing from one task to another in his golf cart.

With campers on the main fields and practice fields, Romo was a busy man but, as always, made it a point to high-five every single camper.

Then, on Thursday, he watched as much football he could, all of the preliminary rounds, semifinals and finals.

Burlington, Waterford and Catholic Central all participated in the invite-only showdown, which showcased some of the best talent in southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois.

Tony took the time to encourage as many players as possible through cheers and constructive criticism.

He even offered up a few complex NFL plays for teams to try.

He kept a big smile on his face and even drove around a few kids on that golf cart toward the end.

Romo is a leader, plain and simple. His energetic, fun-loving attitude meshes with high football IQ, and people can’t help but listen to him.

“You just try to be the best version of yourself day in and day out,” said Romo when asked how to lead off the field. “You want to try to be a good husband and a good man, and you want to be a God-fearing man. Those are things you try. You just gotta go work at it.”

 

Want to play catch?

A kid at heart, Romo doesn’t hesitate to toss the ball around to keep his arm loose.

In my two years at the Burlington Standard Press, the closest I’ve gotten to Tony is his father, Ramiro, who gave me a wonderful interview when Tony and the Dallas Cowboys battled the Green Bay Packers in January at Lambeau Field.

I get it. Tony is busy. In the past, I’ve reached out to friends for an email address, a phone number, maybe a heads up if he’s coming to town.

Nothing really worked for seven years before the interview with Ramiro, but I honestly wasn’t even thinking of trying to get an exclusive this year.

I figured Tony would be too busy, and maybe the press conference would be enough.

When an old colleague from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently told me, “Mike, you gotta play catch with Romo and get a 1-on-1, he’s your boy,” I was determined to just go up to Tony and simply ask for 5 minutes of his time.

So on Wednesday, I spotted Tony walking toward his truck.

I shook his hand and fired away, asking for 5 minutes at some point in the camp, thinking Wednesday was the only day of the camp.

Tony, who I pretty much grew up in the backyard playing sports with, treated me like one of his old buddies from back in the day.

He told me to come back Thursday, and he would make time for me.

Hallelujah!

It was going happen. Career growth and bliss, all from one person agreeing to talk to another person. It’s funny what fame and fortune does to our perceptions.

So with bells on, I showed up as early as possible Thursday, and Tony greeted me after cruising near me on his golf cart.

“What’s up, Rammer? Thanks for coming out,” he said, referring to my nickname. I had no idea how he knew my nickname. Did he remember it from childhood? Was he trying to make a good impression?

After I pinched myself and regained my breath, because that was a surreal feeling, I was put to work, following Tony like a puppy dog.

You know, annoyingly tracing every step waiting for some dinner to slip off the plate.

I watched Tony’s every move as he bounced from semifinal game to semifinal game of the tournament, which was being played on two 50-yard fields in the opposite direction on the main football field, around 2:30 p.m.

As my photographer, Rick Benavides, snapped away at the games, I constantly bugged him and forced him to talk me off the ledge.

“Hey Rick, is he gonna do it?”

“Tony’s probably too busy, right?”

“Maybe he’s waiting for the games to be over?”

“My wife is working at home and needs me to watch my baby, will he make me wait for two hours?”

Things change in your head when the guy who almost won the NFL MVP the year prior calls you by your nickname and agrees to play catch with you, something we probably haven’t done together since we were adolescents in the mid-90s.

 

An awkward “interview”

After we agreed to play catch at halftime, which happened to be in about 10 minutes, Tony walked up to me with a football only six minutes later.

“Let’s play catch,” he said.

Normally the jabber jaw, nervousness muted my brain and I marched toward midfield, scrambling to give Rick the tape recorder.

But this was far from an interview.

A serious-as-a-heart-attack Romo fired the ball to me on his first warm-up.

Ouch. Was he going to keep throwing this hard?

Then again. And again. Same motion, same velocity.

Welcome to the game, rookie reporter. These are the big leagues.

Maybe it’s a muscle memory thing with a quarterback at that level, but after a series of throws, I dropped one and I was only lobbing the ball back to him.

My arm is pretty strong, and I wasn’t going to have a fastball contest. I’d be escorted to my car by the entire army of Romo followers.

Is it weird that a minute has passed and neither of us have said a word?

Oh, I tried to ask about the camp amidst the amplified yells and play calls, fans cheering and general raucous of two football games encompassing us, but Romo, obligated to his campers, fixated on the games.

In-between my at-times awkward route running and continued catches of Romo rifles, I got one question in, which wasn’t answered.

Overwhelming joy was being trumped by a bizarre atmosphere.

Contary to my initial request for an interview while playing catch, we were just playing catch.

Tony casually stopped throwing to me and instead began throwing to his buddy, Burlington football coach Steve Tenhagen.

Was this it? Seriously, what just happened here?

A stadium of probably 300 people just watched me play catch with Tony, a very, very silent encounter.

I assumed (don’t assume, kids), at halftime, Romo would come back and answer questions.

After he made his rounds, I summoned him back to me.

When I asked about the interview, a confused Romo said, “Didn’t we just do that?”

Stunned, I kept my cool and insisted.

Without time to waste, Romo told me to go ahead, so I gave the tape recorder back to Rick and set him up with my cell phone video.

Feeling rushed, I took what seemed like years to ask basic questions. I was so nervous and quite frankly intimidated, though we stood eye-to-eye.

Tony was great, saying he always won in sports even as a kid because of his competitiveness, something he described as “God-given” and “innate.”

He was forced away from me again, but promised to return to finish the interview.

Only a few minutes later, he was back.

He added his competitive spirit “burns inside him,” and Tony foreshadowed a potential second career.

“I’d be interviewing players,” he said with a smile when asked what he’d do if the NFL didn’t exist.

After the interview, I personally thanked Tony, and just like in his greeting, a pound and him calling me Rammer happened.

This was unreal.

 

The pride of Burlington

Tony is in a great place in his life, and he is oozing with confidence moving forward.

Just when I thought the hometown boy wouldn’t really remember me that much, he did.

He laughed and said he remembers guys like Jesse Coca, Jeremy Delgado and myself playing against him on an abandoned lot until the sun went down all summer.

The interview was only my second exclusive. The first was Milwaukee Brewers former MVP Ryan

Braun.

But this one was much, much sweeter.

For one glorious day, I felt like a kid, racing through old memories of playing football for the love of the game and not having a care in the world.

It’s the same feeling Romo gives these campers, and the reason they come back year after year.

As Romo said himself about the influence of the great Don Dalton, it means something when somebody puts in effort to show they care about you.

Tony does that with the style and grace of a ballet dancer, weaving through the crowds and inspiring everyone in his path.

I’d tell Tony to keep coming back for his camp each summer, no matter what, but it’s not necessary.

Everything in the star quarterback’s DNA is about giving back, helping people, shining and sharing his positive message with the world.

Luckily for the city of Burlington, Tony considers and will always consider us very highly in his world.

How can we not root for a guy like that, even if he does play for the Dallas Cowboys?