Romo has former Cowboys coach on his side

Published Aug. 29, 2012 7:04 p.m. ET

foxsports

DALLAS — Jimmy Johnson believes the Dallas Cowboys have a championship-level quarterback in Tony Romo.

That's what the coach who won two Super Bowls in Dallas told a luncheon audience Wednesday.

"The guy is a great quarterback," said Johnson, in comments reported on dallasnews.com. "You've got to win a ring to get it done. I think Romo can get it done. I love Tony Romo."

Johnson was the featured speaker at the PwC SMU Athletic Forum in one of his rare trips back to Dallas.

He said Romo "catches more undeserved abuse" than any other player in the NFL. He also added that his former Arkansas teammate, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, gets too much blame for their breakup after winning Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII.

"(Jerry) doesn't deserve all the abuse," Johnson said.

Johnson, now an analyst on Fox's NFL pregame show, said he believes the Cowboys would have won the Super Bowl last year if they had made the playoffs by beating the Giants in the season finale.

"Nothing would make me happier than (the Cowboys) getting another ring," he said.