It is April 4, 2017. I am still in bed when, reaching over to grab my phone, I immediately notice something had happened overnight-something big, bad, or a combination of both. Tons of notifications from both friends and family, 538 text messages to be exact, were all displayed on the homescreen as I realized the cause of all this commotion. Overnight, Antonio Ramiro Romo, quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys for the past 13 seasons, had chosen to retire.

Immediately after hearing the news, there were a thousand different thoughts running through my brain. This has to be Jerry’s (The owner of the Cowboys) fault. Why’d he have to be so greedy? Why couldn’t he just trade Romo or release him for Christ’s sake? Is this how you repay a man who slaved out there for 13 years for a franchise that clearly failed him again and again, year after year? I confess, some vulgar comments were uttered against the Cowboys, and some choice words in specific were used in reference to Jerry Jones. However, after the initial frustration boiled over, I came to terms with the inevitability certain to take place from the past 3 years-Romo realized he simply couldn’t handle the physical toll of this game anymore.

Expecting a man to continue to put his body on the line for your favorite team even after so many injuries is beyond selfish, in fact, there is no term quite severe enough to denounce such desires. A broken right pinkie, a broken left collarbone, two transverse process fractures, another broken left collarbone, another broken left collarbone, and a compression fracture in the L1 vertebrae. This is a list of all the injuries Romo endured in just the past 4 years of his 13 year career. Let’s not even count the bumps, bruises, scratches, cuts, gashes, and ludicrous amount of head trauma as well. Lest we forget, this man has a family to feed. He’s not playing football for the sole purpose of entertaining people leisurely watching him while gobbling down nachos.

Romo has decided that his soon-to-be 37 year old body can take no more, and he has hung up the cleats. Dallas fans, worry not for Romo will not be far from the turf. In fact, he accepted a job as an announcer for CBS immediately after his retirement. However, we may never be lucky enough to see Romo throw another pass on TV.

Thank you Tony Romo, for all the work you’ve put in to take the Dallas Cowboys back to their glory days. You have always strived to put the Cowboys in the best possible position to succeed, and in the end it was the franchise that failed you in the quest for championships, not the other way. We hope that all Dallas quarterbacks from here on can reach the bar that you have set.