By now, everyone knows the story: Dak Prescott takes over, Cowboys win 10 straight, Romo holds a clipboard. We’ve heard his teary-eyed concession speech where he became the first quarterback in NFL history to anoint his successor. But what we haven’t heard is that Tony Romo surrendered more than his job on that day: he also surrendered boots.

Jerry Jones is 74 years old, but even he admits that he looks and feels “closer to 94”. He has privately been very concerned of his rapidly impending mortality and working obsessively to show his appreciation to those closest to him. In April 2016, Jones invited Romo to his estate for a “special ceremony” which only the two of them attended. It was then that Jerry Jones gifted his quarterback the boots.

“I wanted me and Tony to start a family tradition, something prestigious that will outlast me,” reflects Jones. “My wife bought me those boots when I bought the team in ‘89. They didn’t fit me, but they were nice boots, so I kept them.”