No one understands the level of Tony Romo’s heartache and pain more than his wife, Candice.
The former beauty queen expressed Romo’s “soul-crushing” disappointment regarding the perilous limbo of his NFL future, likely away from Dallas.
“It’s hard because he’s competitive and competing on that field giving his body, his soul and emotion, his life of wanting to get a championship for the Dallas Cowboys and for the Jones,” she said during an interview with “Inside the Huddle” in September, via the Dallas Morning News. “It’s hard when we’ve got a big rug pulled out from under us this year.”
Romo was sidelined in late August after suffering an injury in preseason — “You’re watching your spouse grovel in pain and suffering,” Candice said — and rookie Dak Prescott stepped into the Cowboys’ starting role. The rookie quarterback led the Cowboys to an 8-1 record by the time Romo was ready to return to action in mid-November.
“Dak Prescott has earned the right to be our quarterback, as hard as that is for me to say,” Romo said in November, his first media appearance since being sidelined.
“It’s a dark place, probably the darkest it’s ever been. You’re sad and down and out and you ask yourself, ‘Why did this have to happen?'”
Romo, 36, played one drive — ending in a touchdown — in the regular-season finale against the Eagles. The Cowboys and Prescott went on to a lose 34-31 heartbreaker to the Packers in the NFC Divisional round.
With the possibility of a trade or release looming, Candice is hopeful her husband will get another shot at glory, even if it’s without silver and navy on his back.
“His plans usually rarely work out how we want them to work out or how we think they should work out,” she said. “So I have to remind myself I can only see this one picture that got shattered, but who knows what comes from this?”
NFL Network reported Denver was Romo’s preferred landing spot, but the Broncos were not inclined to trade for him. However, a recent photo op between Romo and Broncos executive John Elway sent the rumor mill into overdrive.
“He has this positive attitude about everything, even in the darkest of times,” Candice said. “I feel sad for — for him and not getting to accomplish what he was setting out to accomplish this year. And maybe we still can. He’ll be back.”