Home cooking: Character, small-town roots helped Tony Romo overcome the odds

1998 Burlington grad returns to Wisconsin Sunday to battle hometown Packers

By Mike Ramczyk

Sports Editor

Ramiro Romo didn’t have a ton of time to chat Tuesday afternoon.

After all, his son, Tony, is only playing in the biggest football game of his life this Sunday, and Ramiro and wife Joan are busy accommodating anywhere from 40 to 50 family and friends who will make the trip to Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

His mind a bit preoccupied and his phone tired from all of the supportive texts and calls, Ramiro always finds time to speak about the remarkable NFL quarterback and person his son has become.

Tony and the Dallas Cowboys will invade Wisconsin Sunday at noon as the NFC’s second seed, the Green Bay Packers, battle third-seeded Dallas.

Football players don’t get much hotter than Tony has been the last month. The 34-year-old Brown’s Lake native, a 1998 Burlington High School graduate, has possessed the best quarterback rating in the NFL by far over the last month.

His stellar 2014 season, which could end with his first NFL MVP award, continued Sunday, when Romo led a furious 17-point comeback in Dallas’ 24-20 Wild Card playoff victory over Detroit at AT & T Stadium aka Jerry World.

Down 20-17 with 2:32 remaining, Romo scrambled around with ample protection for a good six seconds, backed up and rifled a touchdown pass to the back of the end zone to Terence Williams.

The Cowboys’ defense held on, and Romo left with his first playoff victory since 2009 and second of his career.

Now, the 13-4 Cowboys face the daunting task of beating Green Bay (12-4), a team that went 8-0 at home this season, at the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field, one of the biggest home-field advantages in the league.

The kicker, though, is that Dallas was 8-0 this season on the road. With a dominant rushing attack led by DeMarco Murray, a powerful offensive line led by Sharon native and Walworth Big Foot grad Travis Frederick and Romo playing at an elite level, anything is possible.

One thing’s for sure – the city of Burlington is proud of its hometown boy, and hundreds of area residents will make the three-hour trek and sit on aluminum bleachers in sub-zero temperatures to support Romo, or will they cheer for the Packers?

“We’ve always been Packers fans, but not when they’re playing the Cowboys,” Ramiro said Tuesday. “Tony was a big Brett Favre fan growing up and loved the Packers.”

Tony is the youngest of three children, along with sisters Danielle, the oldest, and Jossalyn. Ramiro is proud of all his children, and he said the experience of being in Dallas and watching his son win Sunday was special.

“It was so tremendous, and we’re very proud of him,” he said. “Any time one of your children has success, it’s great. We thank God for all of the blessings Tony’s brought to our family.”

Ramiro said Tony won’t be coming home this week, since he is busy focusing and preparing for the biggest game of his career.

Tony has never advanced past the divisional round level of the playoffs, and this is only his second opportunity in his 12-year career.

Tony, who came into the league in 2003 as an undrafted free agent, received a $10,000 signing bonus as a rookie and could’ve been cut at any time.

But the Burlington boy kept his nose to the ground, kept working and fighting for respect and opportunities on the field, and never gave up hope.

By 2006, after an injury to starter Drew Bledsoe, Romo came in under center and has been the man in Big D ever since.

He plays the most important position for “America’s Team,” arguably the most popular team in the NFL, and that measly 10 grand has turned into a $100 million contract that averages $18 million per year.

But he’s still Tony, the hometown kid who never big-timed anyone when he starred at Burlington, and he still has all his friends from high school.

Ramiro said Tony’s character of competitiveness, respect and hard work has never changed.

“It’s because of a small town in Wisconsin,” Ramiro said. “Everyone knows everyone, and parents stay together. Tony has always had somebody along the way to help him. Whether it was Don Dalton back in high school or his coaches with the Cowboys.”

“He has taken everything in his career step by step. He’s had to prove himself every day in practice. When you throw over a thousand passes, you will eventually get good.”

An unlikely journey

Though he was an all-state quarterback in 1997 for the Burlington Demons, Romo only had college offers from Division 2 Minnesota State, Division I-AA Eastern Illinois and D1 Army, though Army wanted to make Romo a tight end.

An outstanding athlete who was all-state in football, basketball and golf his senior year, Ramiro said an NFL career used to be a pipe dream.

“Every child has dreams of playing in the pros, but we never really thought something like that would happen,” he said.

But after Romo’s skills began to flourish at the high school level, Ramiro and Tony decided it was best to pursue college football.

After all, Tony’s childhood consisted of tagging along as dad loved playing sports.

“I was always an athlete,” said Ramiro.”

Eastern Illinois, which had a reputation for developing quarterbacks, such as New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, gave Tony a partial scholarship but warned him there was a senior that would start while Tony waited in the wings.

“Tony said he would give it his all,” Ramiro said.

Tony eventually became the starter, and as a senior he won the Walter Payton award, or the equivalent to the Heisman Trophy at the I-AA level.

He was the best D I-AA player in the United States, and an NFL Combine invite followed.

But Tony didn’t necessarily wow scouts. Though the 2003 NFL Draft had seven rounds and more than 200 selections, Tony wasn’t one of them.

“Tony did just enough to impress some teams,” Ramiro said.

After the draft, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, Arizona and Miami all showed interest in signing Romo as an undrafted free agent.

The football purgatory meant you were given a $10,000 signing bonus with absolutely zero guarantee of making the team, let alone seeing the field all season.

NFL Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, a Super Bowl champion, called Tony and wanted him to play for Dallas.

“The chances of making it were pretty slim,” Ramiro said. “Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson and Quinn Stenner were all ahead of Tony on the depth chart. But when Bill Parcells calls, it’s pretty hard to say no.”

It’s safe to say Tony’s decision worked out. Tutelage from Payton and quarterbacks coach David Lee turned Romo into a bona fide stud.

He took over as the full-time starting quarterback in 2006, and he has made four Pro Bowls.

In 2014, Tony became the franchise’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns and passing yards, surpassing Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach.

On the precipice of the biggest game of his life, Tony and the Cowboys are two wins away from the Super Bowl.

Not too bad for a kid who grew up on Foxtrail Circle off Highway W playing football in the yard and basketball in the driveway with the other neighborhood boys.

This season, Romo led the NFL in passer rating (113), just ahead of Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers.

On Sunday, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound former Demon has the golden opportunity of silencing all of the critics that say he can’t win the big one.

In Burlington, Romo has nothing left to prove. He’s already won.

Community rallies around Tony

From posts on the Burlington Standard Press and Standard Press Sports Facebook pages, Tony Romo is the talk of the town this week.

Even the Burlington Buy, Sell, Trade Facebook page blew up Monday with more than 50 comments about the hometown boy.

The consensus on social media is plenty of Burlingtonites are heading up to Green Bay Sunday, and while they want Tony to play well, they aren’t turning on their beloved Packers.

“Wish I could be there,” said Burlington’s Betty Wiskes. “Love Tony but I want the Packers to win and go to the Super Bowl.”

Television crews have descended upon Burlington this week for a piece of the state’s biggest sports story in some time.

On Monday, TV outlets TMJ4 and WISN 12 visited Fred’s Burgers, while CBS58 made the 45-minute trip to Burlington High School.

According to Burlington football coach Steve Tenhagen, Tony’s lifelong friend and favorite target at wide receiver in high school, two more TV stations came to BHS Tuesday.

On Friday, Dallas media will be in town.

It’s all gravy for Tenhagen, who caught plenty of Romo’s passes back in the late 90s for the Demons.

“It’s something we’ve talked about over the years,” Tenhagen said about Tony coming home to play the Packers in the playoffs. “We knew the time would come. I have an opportunity to go with about 15 buddies, and it’s pretty exciting. We will be rooting for the Cowboys and Tony.”

Tenhagen belongs to a new group of football fan, one specific to Burlington. After Romo started playing for the ‘Boys in 2006, die-hard Packers fans have also become Dallas fans.

Even though the Cowboys were a hated rival of the Packers and often ended their season in the 1990s, Tenhagen and his friends root for the Cowboys and Packers.

However, this new group chooses the ‘Boys over Green Bay if the two must face off, like they will this Sunday for the first time in the postseason since 1995, an NFC title win for Dallas.

Burlington basketball coach Steve Berezowitz, who coached Tony back in the late ‘90s in both football and basketball, is another Burlington resident and lifelong Packer backer who wants to see Tony win Sunday.

“He’s a lot of fun to coach at everything,” Berezowitz said. “His senior year, I realized how special he was. A couple games, I sat back and thought, ‘Wow, this kid can really play.’”

“What I remember the most is his competitiveness. We couldn’t do drills just to do a drill. I had to have a competitive feel to it, and it made us better.”

Berezowitz said he is looking to go to Sunday’s game with his son Joey.

“I can’t miss that one,” Berezowitz said. “Obviously, Tony means a lot to the city. But I look at my high school kids, and they’re not much different from Tony. I know Tony hasn’t forgotten where he comes from. I will absolutely root for the Cowboys.”