You reminded me of something that's the bizarre version of the Joey Harrington phenomenon. Remember my theory that Harrington would have been an elite quarterback if his name had been "Joe Harrington" or "Johnny Harrington" (remember, his real name was John Joseph Harrington)? For whatever reason, the name "Joey" just killed him. It was impossible to take him (or really, any athlete) seriously because "Joey" is the name of your fat little cousin who keeps farting at Thanksgiving dinner, or your unemployed uncle who has to move into your family's spare bedroom for a few months until he gets back on his feet.
Well, the name "Tony Romo" ... I mean, that's a great name. That sounds like the name of someone who is going to be such a smash hit, he'll end up winning a couple of Super Bowls and opening a chain of BBQ restaurants. I want to root for "Tony Romo." I want to believe that "Tony Romo" is going to come through on this game-winning drive. I want "Tony Romo" to plow through a series of hot actresses and singers. I want "Tony Romo" to stay single past retirement, develop a drinking problem and eventually hit on a sideline reporter during a live telecast before entering rehab. These are the things that "Tony Romo" should do.
This is why we projected talents for Romo that he didn't actually have. I picked him 40th in my West Coast fantasy draft even though he didn't have a proven No. 1 receiver. Why? Because he's "Tony Romo"! Now, let's say his name had been "Kyle Boller" or "Kevin O'Connell" or "Alex Smith" or "Jared Lorenzen" this whole time. Would you have believed in him? Would we have given him the same benefit of the doubt all these times when he kept gagging in big moments? I say no. We believed in Tony Romo mainly because he seemed like a good guy and he had a great name. Really, those were the only two reasons.