INVITED CELEBRITY CLASSIC

April 20, 2023

Tony Romo

Las Colinas Country Club

Press Conference

Q. Do these tournaments ever get old to you?

TONY ROMO: No, these are fun, tournaments in general. When you're done playing football one of the things you really appreciate is having the ability to still compete. Playing golf has provided that for me, the joy of trying to improve and be able to go out and try and win at something, being able to have that in your life.

Obviously a pleasure to be able to have that in your life. And obviously putting this on, it was a really special tournament last year, so I was excited to come back.

Q. Talk about this course.

TONY ROMO: No, I love the golf course. Since the redo they've really done an exceptional job. These greens are about as good as it gets. I think you'll see that play out throughout this week.

I just think there's really rewarding holes for good shots and will separate people, especially on the greens.

Q. You have athletes, you have entertainers. Tell me about that camaraderie and what are the conversations you have on the course?

TONY ROMO: It's great. I mean, I've played in Lake Tahoe for many years and they've done an excellent job there. It's like a PGA Tour event, and this is the same, right? So many of the legends of the game are playing, and playing at such a high level.

Just feel like being around them for me, you get to always learn, pick the brains of professionals, and then on top of it, you get to hang out with the guys you see all the time year in year out. Fun to watch the guys improve and get better and guys who end up challenging for the lead. It's just a really rewarding experience for a lot of us.

Q. This is also a big tournament for the fans. We always see a lot of autographs and pictures taken. What do you hope the fans take from this experience?

TONY ROMO: It's really -- I mean, my family is coming out, friends and their kids, everyone. It's just a great experience for families. I think if you're at the Dallas Metroplex or anywhere around here you should come out because it's just an easy walk.

It's also like you can see three or four holes at one time. You see a lot of great shots, players standing in one spot. They have a lot of the fun kids stuff on top it. Has a little bit for everyone.

Looks like the weather and temperature will be fine, as long as the storms stay away a little bit. Just one of the more fun tournaments to be in.

Q. Has it settled in that DeMarcus is a Hall of Famer yet?

TONY ROMO: I mean, I knew that when he was playing, so it's kind of like that was almost -- for me it was a foregone conclusion. But just to see that happen for him, his family and everything, it's just an incredible honor and I'm so happy for him. He worked so hard. He's just a special guy.

Q. (Indiscernible) was very complimentary of you because you took so the criticism this past year for the broadcast. How do you deal with that? Were you surprised by that or just par for the course?

TONY ROMO: No, that's normal. I think that happens to anybody. Any time you're doing something well I think there will always be that. It's just the arc of someone's career.

Happened a few times before, so that's part of it. And that's a good thing. I think it's always positive. You have people that -- I'm just trying to provide a great experience for the viewer. I think if you do that really well, at a high level, and Jim is the best guy ever. Me and Nantz are like brothers, or pseudo father/son. Brothers, right?

He's just one of those rare guys. He's got integrity, compassion, he's honest, he loves sports. Just I enjoy hanging out with him. Look forward to the season.

Q. Was it good to have a network behind you? Sometimes those things...

TONY ROMO: That stuff doesn't -- really once you play quarterback for the Cowboys I think it's -- I mean, that's like you got to remember there is always someone's opinion here, but there are a hundred other people that come up to you and tell you that they love you.

So I think you are never going to please everyone, but I do think that at the end of the day there is a lot more people that really appreciate what we do. I think CBS does a great job with our broadcast.

Q. What are you looking forward to this weekend?

TONY ROMO: Playing good golf hopefully. That's what I look forward to. Hopefully having the trophy at the end of it. You know, one the more fun things when you're a father is just being able to bring the trophy home. You're like, Sprite or ice cream, or a combination, maybe both this week. We'll see. It's a fun thing to do as a dad, just have that.

For them, the older they get the more they appreciate those moments. Lake Tahoe was so much fun last year coming back and winning that because they were there. Having my wife and everyone around, it just makes it just something you really want to do all the time.

Q. How is your game?

TONY ROMO: Been doing all right. Had a really good spring. Got a lot of reps in, probably the most I've had leading up to this part of year where you could say the tournament season kind of starts in some ways.

Yeah, I feel ready. Body feels good. Back is always kind of a thing. Had two back surgeries, but that feels strong right now. If that holds up, I think I'll do all right this week.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

TONY ROMO: You're always trying to continue to grow and get better. I think this might be the first year I really feel like I'm consistent enough to shoot some scores that give me a better chance to play this tournaments and things that are harder to get into.

But you got to go shoot the scores. Until you do, nothing matters. So nothing is given to you. You got to go out and earn it.

Q. You spoke about your being a father. Named one of your kids Jones. Can you speak to what Jerry has meant to you why your career and what he's meant to football?

TONY ROMO: Oh, big question. I think the Jones family in general, obviously Jerry is extremely meaningful to me. I mean, he really was like a second father to me in a lot of ways throughout my career.

You know, you want people who root for you. You want people that are really like not just the team, but me in general. Like because it's always about the team and we always try and make it that and that's the most important thing because that's how you win and how you go through stuff.

That creates bonds for life. But Jerry always was just incredible at feeling the pain that you would go through when you lose. You know, he always would be there to support you and also look out for you. He's made some decisions behind the scenes that not everyone knows that show that.

I think things he wouldn't normally do, you know, he would do for me that kind of shows you it's a personal relationship that lasts forever. I think -- I can't say enough about him Eugenia and Jerry, the entire family. They're like a second family to us.

Q. Thoughts on the way the season ended and what pieces they might need for this upcoming draft?

TONY ROMO: Yeah, I mean, they been so close here for a while. Like I thought this year was probably as deep I would say -- for the teams in the playoffs, I would say this was probably as deep from one to about five or six that could win a championship.

Someone could win some games and stuff, but you still -- I can tell there are flaws on certain teams that are going to end up playing out in that way at some point in the playoffs, and it's good teams, and Dallas was right there, you know, with the Eagles, with the Chiefs, everyone else. Anyone could have one on any given day.

These games come down to a play, a call, a bounce of the ball. Your job is to make it so it doesn't just come down to that. That's why you get certain individuals, to be able to create those. That includes coaching staff, players, front office, everyone involved. They're a play or two away, and that's played out for a few years now.

But it's hard to win in the NFL, because each of those another team have great players, too. You're always trying to find an advantage. The advantage comes with either drafting a guy who you saw something in that other teams didn't, and so you get a player in the draft that all of a sudden comes in. He's better than the rest of the league valued him as.

The other one is coaching. You hire coaches that give you a schematic advantage of people getting open a time or two more.

Then you have a system in place that players know that allows them to know the nuances. I think that it's super important they kept Dan Quinn, because now these guys have been in that system are making calls on the field. And it's not just the calls.

There are checks over and over again from the D-linemen to the linebackers, the safety, to the corner, all on a given play. When in year one in a system, those are, I'm not sure. But once you did it eight times and didn't do it four you're like, I should be doing this. Boom, boom, boom. Then the play gets broken up.

So I think that's a key component that will help for next year.

Q. Does this void, the golf, does that fill your competitive urge that you've had?

TONY ROMO: I mean, yes and no. I like competing in general, so for me, that's like fun. I like learning and improving. I think that's fun.

So all those years I went like ten years without skipping a day of throwing of the football, that's like fun. That's not like work. It's like you are working hard but you're also doing it to improve.

Golf has a little bit of that where it's fun to go grind and try and improve. It can be frustrating when you don't and I've had plenty of those moments in golf.

It's also fun when you start to see things that used to be really hard aren't, and that's when it starts to take shape. It takes many years to get to that point. Took me a long time in football. Same way.

And, yeah, I'm like year six I think this year, so it's starting to come out.

Q. Are the interceptions different? How do you move on from that?

TONY ROMO: Well, you like I said, it's learning. You evaluate. There were years where, you know -- the year that you have the most interceptions, sometimes you had three other years that could have been right around that, but you had four balls dropped in two games that were easy interceptions, but they didn't catch them.

There were others where I had like the year with the most there was like six balls you can go back and say they should have been caught by our team. That still falls on you. That's why you play quarterback. It's your job to overcome it and figure it out. You evaluate everyone and then go back in and put yourself in that situation, at least for me, where you literally mentally think about what you thought before the play, the situation, what was the score, what did I go into the game thinking they were going to run.

Was it something they did schematically or was it physical error. That has come up two or three times now and you got to work on that part of your game to eliminate that and get better at that threat.

Is it because I felt something emotionally, like we have to score on this drive to come back. Did I want prove something. There are all these things, so you start to just situational them and go work on them.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

TONY ROMO: Yeah, I'll be trying to qualify for the U.S. Open this year. I think maybe the U.S. Am as well.

Q. Where do you see yourself in seven and a half years?

TONY ROMO: I deal with tomorrow with the kids, so I don't get very far there because I'm like, what's my schedule next week? I don't know, but I do know I'm probably going to drive the kids to school and from there probably take them to practice and help out.

I enjoy everything, so it's a great time in my life just having a couple of birthdays recently, 11 and 9. Hawk and Rivers, and then Jones is coming up in August. He's five. Been pretty fun.

Q. As a broadcaster you've gone around the NFL. How has the experience that you had with the Cowboys in just stadiums Jerry built, because you see everything that Jerry (indiscernible, wow, that's a Jerry imprint.

TONY ROMO: I didn't get to it in the last time about what he's meant to the NFL, to your point, what Jerry has done is just -- it's almost inconceivable if you think about what he started with. I know the Cowboys franchise was always iconic, but he really helped build that back in some ways to where they were, and then has really taken it up another level.

So much of the stuff he's done, he was so instrumental in creating so much of the money for the players and everyone involved by taking a risk years ago when the TV deals -- I mean, he changed the game as far as -- most of the salary cap, all the money comes from the networks in a lot of ways.

That right there was him saying, we can demand more. They'll do this. And then when you don't do it, you see what happens to some of the networks. So he really put his foot down and convinced the owners to hold firm, and that changed the game back in the '90s when they were able to make those new TV deals.

When that came out he was at forefront and the guy who had the vision. That's just one example. There are 50 others behind the scenes that were him. I just think you may never see that again. There might not ever be another Jerry Jones that comes across.