FRISCO, Texas – I don't dance at parties and I don't sing karaoke. Maybe I'm just no fun, even if my mom and my wife say otherwise.
I also want no part of this "Still Tony's Team?" discussion.
Yep, call me lame. Heard it from Helman before.
Look, it's a great debate at water coolers and on radio shows (tune into Talkin' Cowboys weekdays at 11:30 a.m. Central!) but the truth is there's no logic to it. It's too rushed, as if we're hell-bent on microwaving Dak Prescott's young and promising career.
He got his first victory this past Sunday against the rival Redskins. He hasn't thrown a touchdown pass yet, but he has the longest streak without an interception in NFL history (75 attempts) for a rookie beginning his career.
With a Canton-like preseason and two composed, efficient starts, Dak Prescott is clearly the quarterback of the future in Dallas.
Let that be enough for now.
Coming off fourth-quarter rally in Washington, Prescott and team owner/general manager Jerry Jones quelled any talk of a brewing quarterback controversy when Tony Romo returns this season from a fractured bone in his back.
"This Romo's team," Prescott said.
"This is Tony's team," Jones echoed.
They're right. They'll have to keep saying it over and over again if Prescott keeps playing well, but they're right.
[embeddedad0]Romo, when healthy, has proven he can take the Cowboys to the playoffs when he has a strong supporting cast on offense. Two years ago they were perhaps a Dez-Bryant-catch-that-wasn't from the NFC Title Game.
The key phrase is when healthy. For the better part of two years, Romo hasn't been.
Given his mounting injury history, it's natural for some fans to turn toward the 23-year-old Prescott who carries himself like a 14-year veteran. The irony here is that Romo's own storybook career arc sparks this kind of talk. He sat on the bench for three and a half years while the Cowboys cycled through average to below-average starters. Fans see hints of brilliance from Prescott and don't want him holding a clipboard for, literally, years.
Except Romo isn't a progress-stopper. They're 2-14 without him since 2013. Prescott is trying to change that trend for however long he fills in. His winning touchdown drive this past Sunday at FedExField was a great start.
Of course, Romo must stay on the field when he returns. With Prescott, the Cowboys know they have a viable backup option for the present and, based off about six weeks of really impressive play, believe they have a long-term successor for Romo in the future.
They don't expect another period of quarterback purgatory like those six bridgeless years between Troy Aikman and Tony Romo until 2006. If there's any silver lining to Romo's absence, it's that Prescott gets on-the-job training rare for a rookie and almost unheard of for a fourth-round pick.
Looks like the baton will get handed off one day. When? No one knows. It's too early to speculate.
Just let Dak play the Chicago Bears on Sunday night. Let him deal with more success, more adversity, grow as a player.
Everything else is microwavable.
