Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley came under fire Tuesday for acknowledging his joy at seeing the Dallas Cowboys -- and specifically Tony Romo -- self-implode Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
Harmless perhaps, but the heat around Cooley peaked when ex-NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, on WFAN-AM in New York, called the tight end "an idiot" for his critique of Romo.
Cooley joined WJFK-FM again Wednesday to address the aftermath.
"I'm giving you who I am, so for Boomer to say that ... he's telling people what he thinks, and I really don't care," Cooley said. "The thing people have to understand, when they listen to me do a radio show, is that -- to do well -- or to provide information that people want to hear, you have to use your personality. I mean, I could come on your show and say everything I wanted to exactly, politically correct. I wouldn't be on your show very long."
Cooley was heartfelt in clarifying that his critique of Romo wasn't personal and "there's no personal vendetta."
"There's nothing in terms of Tony Romo that I even really know," Cooley said. "As a person, we've met. I don't really know him. The only animosity would be that I've been watching 'SportsCenter' and 'NFL Live,' and it's just getting old -- the whole thing."
Cooley speaks for the masses on that one. The Romo obsession has floated to an unhealthy place (and we're guilty of advancing it). And Cooley's correct -- even if his comments generated unnecessary high jinx -- in that he's not brought on air to send everyone into deep slumber. There's plenty of others equipped to do that.
