Troy Aikman: Insulting the Intelligence of Sports Fans

The Dallas Cowboys are America’s Team. Whatever that means. Personally, I’d pick the Yankees to usurp that title, but the problem with that idea is that the Yankees’ actual nickname, the “Evil Empire”, is probably a more accurate representation of both the team and, well, America. Say what you want about hope and change in a world where Morgan Freeman or Dennis Haysbert (or even Sammy Davis Jr.) portraying the President isn’t so ironic anymore, but the fact is that the way the Yankees operate as a ubiquitous business model in sports has much more in common with the way our country operates in the context of the international community. But we don’t have much of a sense of humor about our ‘Evil Empire’. At least not enough of one to let politics taint our sports.

So, the Cowboys are America’s Team, for better or worse, with their net value of $1.6 billion to prove it. Obviously one of the challenges of performing under such a title, for the players, is the added pressure of the perpetual national gaze, the sort of attention normally exclusively reserved for athletes whose teams reside in New York. Or Lebron James, but only because he might play in New York. So if you happened to be the star quarterback of America’s Team, and also happen to be dating a Hollywood starlet -- one with crossover appeal mind you -- you’d better be prepared to deal with the shitstorm coming your way. TMZ has more teeth than ESPN.

Tony Romo was evidently not ready to deal with what he had coming when he spent a couple days of the Cowboys’ bye week during the first round of the 2007/2008 NFL playoffs vacationing in Cabo San Lucas with girlfriend Jessica Simpson, as was widely reported and derided. Romo’s response to this was that, first and foremost, he had not skipped out on any team functions (in fact he had been urged by his head coach to get away and clear his head, and had three teammates with him in Mexico) and that the getaway did not affect his preparation for the upcoming playoff game. Moreover, Romo claimed that since the jaunt did not affect his preparation, he was thus not concerned about “perception”. Big mistake.

It certainly did not help his case that Romo and the Cowboys would go onto lose that game to the (eventual Superbowl champion) New York Giants after having completed a 13-3 season. But still, it seemed a little odd when former Cowboy great Troy Aikman brought up the incident, nearly a year in the past, in a recent interview, not mincing words about the current QB of America’s Team in lieu of a 44-6 throttling at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles with a playoff spot on the line on the last day of the 2008 regular season. Aikman’s message was simple: Romo was not guilty of being ill-prepared for the previous season’s playoff game, but that the Cabo trip was just not the kind of thing you do as a leader of America’s Team.

It was, in fact, a matter of perception; comments likely influenced by the late season turmoil inside the Cowboys lockerroom and Romo’s position as the de facto leader within it. The captain must go down with the ship.

What is interesting in all this is the fact that most every football fan seems to agree with the words of Aikman with unwavering allegiance despite the fact that those words effectively insult the intelligence of the very same fans. Whose perception is it, precisely, that Aikman believes Romo should be wary of? In the days of trash talking as ‘bulletin board material’ some might say the answer is the opponent. But really, does a rusher’s jealousy of Jessica Simpson’s steel body really motivate him to get to Romo any quicker in the pocket, or does that have much more to do with the players on the field and how they execute play to play? No, no, the perception that Aikman is worried about is that of the media, and by extension the fans to whom the media only sells what those fans want to see.

So while I have already asked too many questions, another one comes up, and that is why exactly do sports fans 1) criticize, and 2) even care about Romo taking a sanctioned vacation to a beautiful destination with his beautiful girlfriend? In grade school, if I got my homework done, I was allowed to go play with my friends. Everyone (his coaches, his teammates, Troy Aikman) agrees that Romo got his homework done, so why isn’t he allowed to play? The answer here isn’t so cut and dry, and I will even admit that going to Cabo the week before a playoff game really just doesn’t feel right. But really, given that there were no team functions going on, what’s the perceptual difference between drinking a beer with your girlfriend in Texas (which we have to assume other members of a 52 man roster did) as opposed to drinking a beer with your girlfriend in Mexico? How exactly does the latter make one less of a leader?

In short, what doesn’t sit right with me about Aikman’s comments is that, in effect, he is saying that it would be alright to do whatever Tony Romo did down in Mexico, if not for the fact that us darn fans can’t get off his back about it. Apparently, we’re not smart enough to realize that taking a short vacation doesn’t have to interfere with your day job. Quite frankly, I don’t believe that a weekend in Cabo inherently makes one less of a leader. What I do think is that players of all sports cannot escape the ubiquity of the media surrounding their profession, and thus see public perception through the enhanced glare of that media, which can cause rifts between teammates and the fracturing of a clubhouse or lockerroom.

But this would all a moot point if, very simply, people didn’t give a damn about Tony Romo’s personal life.

So perhaps I have actually stumbled over myself and proven Mr. Aikman right. Maybe sports fans aren’t that perceptive. Or maybe those reading the Sporting News have much more in common with those reading People Magazine than they would like to admit. And, for that reason -- the ever present circus surrounding them -- perhaps the Cowboys are, truly, America’s Team