I know what you’re thinking. Why is a lifelong Redskins fan writing a tribute piece for Tony Romo?

Yes, that Tony Romo. The guy who made my life miserable for a decade almost every time we played each other. The guy who set nearly every franchise passing record, following Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.

The guy who we all like to tweet mean things about, but has a career 97.1 passer rating. Oh, and for all the jokes we made about his playoff “struggles”, the guy who had an 8:2 TD-to-INT ratio with a 93 passer rating in the postseason. Yeah, THAT Tony Romo.

Sometimes you have to have been someone’s fiercest opponent to truly appreciate what they brought to the table. Redskins, Giants and Eagles fans call all recall the times they went “I hate Tony Romo.”

Having 25 career 4th Quarter comebacks will do that. As a Redskins fan, I shudder to recall the times one of our premier pass rushers got a hand on Romo, only to have him slip away and throw a perfect pass. Giants fans and Eagles fans shake their collective heads in agreement. Tony Romo was great, and we all hated him for it.

Hate doesn’t have to mean a lack of respect. In truth, the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. With the utmost respect, we will miss you, Tony.

We’ll miss the rivalry games, the comebacks, AND the turnovers. We’ll miss the TO meltdowns (that’s my quarterback, my teammate), the Mexico vacations and the memes.

Ah yes, we can’t forget about those. Like “Tony Romo’s apple turnovers.” Or Simba trying to wake him up. Or of course the famous “My neck, my back, some interceptions and some sacks.”

He was the villain to us for a decade, and now that he’s gone, a chapter in the greatest rivalry in sports has come to a close. Farewell, Tony. Can’t wait to finally like you again when the broadcasts begin.

(Photo Courtesy of AP)