Troy Aikman, who has long been one of Tony Romo's strongest supporters, took his raving about Romo to a different level Tuesday.
Aikman compared Romo favorably to a first-ballot Hall of Famer: himself.
"I think Tony already is a better quarterback than I was," Aikman told the Brownsville Herald while in the South Texas town Tuesday for a Wingstop publicity event. "I know how quarterbacks are judged, but as far as his play-making ability and the things that he is capable of doing, he is a far more athletic quarterback, capable of making more plays than I ever was able to."
As Aikman alluded, quarterbacks are judged by winning, especially in the playoffs. Romo (.610) actually has a slightly better regular-season winning percentage than Aikman (.570), but they’re in different stratospheres as far as playoff success goes. Romo has a 1-3 postseason record; Aikman owns three Super Bowl rings and an 11-5 postseason record.
Romo’s individual stats are much more impressive than Aikman’s, which can be partially attributed to the NFL becoming a progressively more passing-friendly league.
Romo has a career passer rating of 96.9, which ranks second in NFL history behind Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers. He’s thrown for 20,834 yards and 149 touchdowns in the equivalent of about five full seasons as a starter, putting him on pace to shatter Aikman’s franchise records (32,942 yards and 165 touchdowns).
But Romo will never be considered in the class of Aikman and Roger Staubach unless the Cowboys win a title during his tenure.
"He has a good team around him," Aikman said. "Hopefully -- and I believe this will happen -- I believe that he will win a Super Bowl before he is done playing."