Just before Tony Romo got his big break to become the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, he thought seriously about changing sports.
In an interview with the Dallas News, Romo told a story about training camp in his second season in the National Football League. He found himself fourth on the depth chart, feeling the need to be absolutely perfect with every throw, every read. The pressure overwhelmed him.
"I remember sitting in my hotel room right there and I was so pent up with anxiety and everything was just coming to a head and it was like, 'I can't take it,'" he said. "It was just so much. My whole life felt like it was on this moment."
Romo turned to prayer, realizing that he had a pretty sweet gig in golf waiting for him back home if the whole professional quarterbacking thing didn't pan out.
"That's when I sat in bed and I just prayed to the Lord, and this was a very defining moment for me," Romo said. "I was like, 'If I'm not meant to be the quarterback here or play quarterback in the NFL, that's fine. Then I'm going to go back and be a really good assistant golf club professional back in Burlington, Wisconsin.'"
You know how the story turned out. Romo figured out how to cut it loose in practice, and the results were good enough for him to make the team as the third-string QB.
"I started throwing the ball 10 times better, but it was just fast, it was aggressive. I didn't worry about the results," he said. "All I worried about was being at my best and just letting it go. You know what, a couple days later, Quincy Carter gets cut for reasons unknown, I end up making the team and the rest is history as they say."
Now Romo has enough money that he can probably buy that club in Wisconsin.
