While the Dallas Cowboys' current starting quarterback was taking another round of criticism on Wednesday, his backup was being praised as the best bargain in the NFL. Oh, and a former Cowboys great still hasn't gotten over a nasty book written about him 15 years ago.
Two former NFL quarterbacks criticized Tony Romo for his leadership skills in a USAToday.com story posted Wednesday.
"I have met him, and I sense he is highly competitive and motivated," said former Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Rich Gannon. "The one constructive criticism I would give Tony is that he has to be more demanding of his teammates."
A bit harsher were comments leveled by former Cowboys signal-caller Babe Laufenberg, who said Romo "doesn't have the body language."
"He is not Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach," said the former Cowboys backup, who posted a career passer rating of 45.9 in his seven years in the NFL. "There are many things he does that, quite honestly, if I were his agent, I would say, 'Tony, put your hat on straight.' People mistake that for being non-competitive."
Romo told the newspaper that he realizes he is considered aloof by some teammates.
"At lunchtime, I can't necessarily play dominoes (because of his responsibilities)," he said.
In April, tight end Martellus Bennett suggested on radio that the Cowboys' backup quarterback, Jon Kitna, had earned the right to challenge Romo for his job.
"Things of that nature are not in the best interests of the Dallas Cowboys. So I talked to him and told him so," Romo says.
As for Kitna, he was named by Forbes magazine this week as the best quarterback bargain in the NFL for his performance for the Cowboys last year after Romo was sidelined with a broken collarbone. Kitna, whose 2010 salary was $2 million, started nine games for Dallas and went 4-5, completing 66 percent of his passes, with 2,365 yards and 16 touchdowns, for a passer rating of 88.9.
Which brings us to Aikman. The Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl winner intimated on a radio show this week that he might like to take a swing at sportswriter Skip Bayless if he ever runs into him.
Bayless' 1996 book about the Cowboys, "Hell Bent," made news for speculating that Aikman was gay -- without providing any evidence. Appearing on 1310 The Ticket, a Dallas radio station, Aikman made it clear that he hasn't forgotten.
"When a guy like that comes out and, whether it's intimated or stated, and there's no substance to that claim, and he's doing it purely to gain interest in a book, that's a problem," he said.
"I will tell you this. I've not seen -- I've not physically seen Skip Bayless since that time. That was in '95. And I still kind of wonder what I might do to him when I do see him."
The show's host asked if he would say something to Bayless about it.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah," Aikman replied.
"But you don't think it will get physical, do you?" the host said.
"Well, I mean, I don't know. I don't know," Aikman said.
Earlier on the show, Aikman said, "I'm not so sure Skip's not gay."
