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Sunday, January 7, 2007 10:45 PM CST
Gossett and EIU can feel for Romo
BY BRIAN NIELSEN Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
So Sean Payton gets NFL Coach of the Year and Saturday still turned out to be a bad day for Eastern Illinois.
Between interviews with Eastern basketball coach Mike Miller and Austin Peay forward Drake Reed talking about the Panthers 81-76 overtime loss, my cell phone rang with a friend telling me about Tony Romo’s nightmare ending to what had been his dream season with the Dallas Cowboys.
The warning did not make it any easier to get home and watch a distraught Romo meet postgame interview obligations after he bobbled the snap for a potential game-winning field goal in the Cowboys’ 21-20 playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
My therapeutic answer on Sunday was to call Jeff Gossett, believed to be the only other former EIU player other than Romo to be selected for a Pro Bowl as a player.
“Being a holder I understand,” said Gossett, who earned his Pro Bowl ticket as an Oakland Raiders punter in the 1991 season. “Maybe it was slick or he had jammed fingers. I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell you if he did have jammed fingers. He’s that kind of guy.”
Yes, we learned that during the time here when Romo would take responsibility for Eastern Illinois losses even if they weren’t his fault.
Living in the Dallas area, Gossett has gotten to know Romo who played for Eastern two decades after the Charleston High School graduate Gossett starred as a baseball shortstop and football punter for the Panthers.
“I had dinner with him and his parents last week,” Gossett said. “We went to their game against Detroit. He was a little down after that game but nothing like this game. We belong to the same country club so I see him running around sometimes. I’m one of his biggest fans.”
Gossett is a fan who can relate a bit more than most.
“Actually, I did fumble a snap against the Cowboys in the 15 years I held,” Gossett said.
But Gossett’s mishap was not magnified at the end of a playoff game.
A holder for place-kicks during his days as punting, Gossett also can feel for Romo having to continue those duties after becoming the Cowboys’ starting quarterback during this season.
“Once he starts starting at quarterback, they should put someone else out there to hold,” Gossett said. “He’s sweaty and is thinking about a lot of things. But they didn’t want to change holders in the middle of the season. Next year he probably won’t hold, not because of that play but because he’s the starting quarterback.”
Ironically, Romo was never the holder in his college days and learned the trade in the NFL.
What he always was at Eastern was a clutch player who made winning plays.
So even knowing the result, didn’t you think watching the replay Tony was going to make it to the end zone running with the football after he botched the snap?
Now we’ve got to wait until next year for him to throw more touchdown passes as a Cowboy.
Of course, Eastern also can root for another of its former quarterbacks as the NFL Coach of the Year in the playoffs.
Guess that’s something.
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Gary J Wiltermood Jr. wrote on Apr 13, 2007 12:10 AM: