excused.
But to me, the reason I have no problem with Romo trying to juggle his schedule - other than the fact that it's the middle of May - is for the simple reason that this guy has earned the right to do that. He's earned the right to miss a day of practice. He could miss the entire offseason if he wanted to, although it's not in his nature to skip out on his team. That's why he's never done it and probably never will.
People want to see leadership. That word got tossed around so much here in the last few years (mostly during the 9-7 season of 2008). I really don't remember people making a big deal about leadership last season, other than giving Keith Brooking a lot of the credit.
Leadership is great. But competition is as well. Let's not forget that your starting quarterback has an addiction to compete. He loves it. Football, golf - we've seen him play indoor soccer and recreational basketball games. One time on a road trip in Colorado, I sat two rows behind Romo on a long bus ride and he made up a game using the large collection of music on his computer to see whoever close to him could name the artist of each song he played. OK, so add "bus-ride DJ" to the list of things Romo does in his spare time.
See, that's just it. He loves competition.
And yes, football practice with his teammates is a form of competition, and on this day it was certainly enough for him to make what he said was an easy decision.
In the future, there may be a conflict that involves golf, or maybe something completely different. He picked football this time, but there may be a time when the result is different.
Either way, Romo should be able to do whatever he wants with a voluntary workout in May and shouldn't have to be judged whether he's committed or not. If nothing else, he's at least earned that right.
