Most former NFL quarterbacks defend Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo when given the opportunity. Former Washington Redskin Joe Theismann is not one of those quarterbacks.

Following Romo’s five-interception outing in a 34-18 loss to the Chicago Bears Monday night, Theismann blasted the Cowboys’ franchise quarterback on a Toronto radio station.

“Sooner or later we have to come to the realization that Tony isn’t a very good quarterback,” Theismann said Tuesday on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “He throws interceptions that (make) you shake your head. If it’s all the wide receivers’ fault then they need to get some new wide receivers, or they need to come up with some different route combinations that guys can understand.”

And the critical comments didn’t stop there.

“I think what hit me last night is, Tony isn’t really that good,” Theismann said. “Just because he wears a star on his helmet — we all think that people who are Dallas Cowboys, ‘Ooh they’re wonderful and ooh they’re terrific, ooh they’re the next Roger Staubach’ or whatever the heck they want to say. They’re full of bologna.

“Tony makes bad decisions with the football. And I’ll tell you something else, he missed two wide-open touchdowns last night that nobody’s talking about. Forget about the five interceptions; he misses Miles Austin and Dez Bryant with easy touchdown throws, and he airmails the ball over their heads.

“You can say, ‘well, everybody has a bad game.’ Tony has too many bad games. Tony Romo is not a very good quarterback. Somebody has to say it, so I just did. … He’s good, but he should be a lot better, or the reputation he’s carried should have him play a lot better.”

The topic clearly fired Theismann up because the 63-year-old then aimed his criticism at Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones, someone that Theismann said has done as much for football as any one man from a business perspective. But that doesn’t mean Theismann trusts Jones’ ability to make personnel decisions for his franchise.

“It took him five years too long to change the offensive line, which isn’t very good,” Theismann said. “It took him three years too long to change his secondary. He’ll do the same thing again. This is what happens when you’re not a football guy.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘is the owner holding back this football team with football decisions?’ And I think yes. I really do. I think Jerry Jones is so emotionally involved in this game that he can’t make a decision that I think effects this football team positively.”

Theismann then summarized his thoughts in one final statement.

“I think you have a couple of issues in Dallas,” he said. “No. 1, I think you have a team, they think they’re pretty good. They’re not. No. 2, their quarterback thinks he’s pretty good. He’s really not. No. 3, their owner is their general manager and he doesn’t make really good decisions from a personnel standpoint.”

It seems safe to say the former two-time Pro Bowler won’t be invited to watch any games from Jones’ suite at Cowboys Stadium any time soon. You probably won’t catch Theismann golfing 18 holes with Romo, either.





Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota