Here’s what Tony Romo misses about football and how he found it in golf

Tony Romo’s abilities as a golfer are well documented. The 40-year-old is one of the better celebrity golfers out there and he’s competed in a number of PGA Tour events. He also tees it up in as many amateur events as he can and is a two-time winner of the American Century Championship, a yearly celebrity golf tournament. Romo is no slouch on the golf course.

Of course, his golf game isn’t what made him a household name. That honor comes courtesy of his 13-year career as quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys and, more recently, as Jim Nantz’ sidekick in the booth for CBS. Though his golf game is impressive, Romo owes his stature to football.

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But unfortunately, Romo hasn’t suited up on the gridiron since 2016, a back injury robbing him of the twilight years of his successful career. And as he explained on this week’s edition of GOLF’s Subpar, it’s something he misses dearly.

“Competition was joy,” Romo said. “But I liked it because I wanted to go improve. I used to have pure joy going to bed at night thinking that I got better. And that the next day, you were finally going to see the real version of what you always wanted to be. That gave me a great feeling.”

Now that hunger for competition and drive to get better has been replaced by golf. Instead of working on his throwing motion each day, he’s trying to whittle away at his handicap.

“With football I think I’ve taken that and moved it over (to golf),” Romo said. “Obviously walking out and having 100,000 people cheering when you score a touchdown or you win a game late, those are rare feelings right there.”

Check out the entire episode of Subpar below as Romo discusses playing quarterback for the Cowboys, how much he practices his golf game and more.

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Zephyr Melton

Golf.com Editor

Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.