Flush with free time, Tony Romo will try out for U.S. Open golf tournament

Tony Romo at a pro-am at Pebble Beach in 2012. (AP)
Tony Romo at a pro-am at Pebble Beach in 2012. (AP)

Tony Romo is doing what many other people do upon retirement: He’s throwing himself into his golf game.

The difference with Romo is he is just 37 years old and was already a pretty good golfer. He tried out for the U.S. Open in 2010 and 2011, and now that he doesn’t need to worry about playing quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys anymore, he’s trying again.

According to Ed Werder, a longtime NFL writer who was most recently with ESPN, Romo will play in a local U.S. Open qualifier next Monday in Aledo, Texas.

This news is being taken as a sign that Romo really isn’t coming back to football, though that seemed like a fantasy anyway. Romo has one of the best jobs in sports broadcasting, as the top NFL analyst for CBS. It would have been hard for him to give up that post to get pounded by NFL linebackers some more.

Romo gets to do things now like play in a U.S. Open qualifier without anyone wondering if it’s a distraction from his job as Cowboys quarterback. While he will be competing with a lot of other golfers to get a spot (about 9,000 golfers for 51 spots, USA Today said), he’s no hack either. He’ll likely be the most recognizable person in the field, but it’s not just a publicity stunt. He can play. And as a bonus, CBS probably doesn’t mind a little more attention paid to its latest acquisition.

In any case, it certainly doesn’t seem like Romo is having any regrets about retiring from the NFL.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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