Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #40 - Tony Romo

Tony Romo

Tony Romo was one of those guys that everybody loved to hate, and most are convinced that he ass not a great NFL quarterback, but that is not true. He was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL for 8 years, and though his playoff success was nearly nonexistent, he still did enough to be ranked.

Romo's story is even more impressive when you consider the fact that he was not even drafted by an NFL team, and spent his first three seasons as as third string quarterback for the Cowboys, never throwing a single pass. His hard work finally paid off in 2006, when he was inserted in place of an ineffective Drew Bledsoe, and he did not give up the starting gig for a decade.

It is hard to pinpoint which season was his best, but a strong contender would be 2007, his first full season as a starter, in which he threw for 4211 yards and 36 touchdowns, which is his career high. The Cowboys also finished 13-3 that season, their best record under his leadership.

He missed most of the 2010 season due to a broken clavicle, and though he rebounded statistically rather quickly, the Cowboys missed the playoffs 4 straight seasons, but in 2014 he finally got Dallas back over the hump, leading the league with a 69.9% completion rate while throwing 34 touchdowns and only 9 picks, and bringing the Cowboys a division title. He also had his first ever good playoff performance, throwing for 484 yards and 4 touchdowns over 2 games, without turning the ball over once.

He broke his clavicle again early in the 2015 season, which caused him to miss 8 games, then he injured his left shoulder shortly after his return, and ended up playing in only 4 games. He hurt his back during the preseason in 2016, and by the time he returned, Dak Prescott had taken over the starting role.

Perhaps surprisingly, Romo is the all-time Cowboys leader in passing yards and touchdowns, not Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach. Though quarterback rating is a flawed statistic, it's still notable that he has the 4th-highest career rating of any quarterback who never reached the Super Bowl. Maybe it would have turned out different if his body didn't fall apart, but he definitely deserves to be remembered as one of the top quarterbacks of all time.