No, Tony Romo Is Not A Hall Of Famer

Tony Romo is not a Hall of Famer. The long-time Dallas Cowboys quarterback officially retired on Tuesday and will now take his talents to CBS as a broadcaster. In doing so, Romo lost his chance at being enshrined in Canton some day.

Romo is 36 years old and could have easily played a few more seasons, but rather than attempt to do that, he’s stepping away from the game. He will leave having reached the Pro Bowl just four times and being named Second-team All-Pro just once. He never made the first team. Despite that, some are promoting his Hall of Fame candidacy in the wake of his retirement.

When you look look deep into his numbers, Romo simply doesn’t rank among the greats at his position. His 34,183 passing yards rank 29th all-time, putting him below guys you’ve forgotten about, like Dave Krieg, Matt Hasselbeck, Jim Everett and Steve DeBerg. Romo’s 248 passing touchdowns rank 21st, below non-Hall of Famers like Vinny Testaverde, Krieg  and Drew Bledsoe. His career touchdown rate (5.7 percent) is 17th all-time, and his interception ratio (2.7 percent) is 31st. None of those numbers are Hall-worthy.

Romo’s excellent career passer rating of 97.1 does rank fourth all-time, but that’s not enough to save his candidacy. Without even a trip to the Super Bowl, his average other numbers eliminate him as a candidate. His utter lack of playoff success is a big stain on his resume as well. He was just 2-4 in four postseason trips and never even reached a conference title game.

Romo isn’t retiring because of a career-ending injury, like Terrell Davis and other did. He’s voluntarily stepping away to take another job. That means he spent just 10 of his 13 years as the regular starting quarterback in Dallas, and in two of those he missed the majority of the season due to injury. He has also played in just five games over the past two campaigns and hasn’t played all 16 games in a season since 2012.

Romo was the face of the the NFL’s glamour franchise for more than a decade. I get that some people have fond memories of him and want to bolster his candidacy as a result. Unfortunately his numbers simply don’t stack up. Romo doesn’t deserve to be mentioned among the game’s all-time greats. He shouldn’t ever get a bust in Canton.