Tony Romo will take part in Mavs’ shootaround, layup line before Tuesday’s game
Tony Romo might have hung up his cleats earlier this month, but the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback better dust off his sneakers for the Dallas Mavericks game Tuesday. Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said on ESPN 103.3 FM in Dallas that Romo will take part in all an NBA player goes through on game day – except actually playing in the game.
Carlisle said Romo will participate in the morning shootaround Tuesday on the scout team, team meetings, early pregame shooting drills and the layup line before the Mavericks play the Denver Nuggets.
So why are the Mavericks stopping short of giving Romo a chance to make his NBA debut? According to Carlisle, there would be a lot of hoops to jump through.
"It's just not a good idea to take a football athlete and throw him in an NBA game," Carlisle said, via ESPN. "It's a completely different kind of sport. No. 2, to sign him we would have to go through a tremendous amount of screening, physicals, all those things. It's not in the best interest of anybody to do that."
Carlisle said Romo, who also starred as a basketball player in high school, will wear No. 9 – the same number he donned during his 13-year career with the Cowboys – and the Mavericks will pay tribute to the 36-year-old.
"If you're a guy who had an NFL career, it'd be pretty cool to have a picture on the wall of you as a member of an NBA basketball team, too," Carlisle said. "I think that would be cool if a basketball player would have that opportunity with a football team. That's kind of where this thing is at. I'm excited by it because Tony has become a friend of mine and you can hear the enthusiasm in his voice."
