Memorable moments of Tony Romo's 14 years with the Dallas Cowboys

A look back at some of the more memorable moments of Tony Romo's 14-year career with the Dallas Cowboys:

The free agent: Romo set numerous program records at Eastern Illinois, but that only generated a late invite to the NFL scouting combine in 2003. He not only participated in all of the combine's quarterback drills but also stayed longer to throw during the workouts for other positions to try and get noticed. Yet Romo still went undrafted, and it came down to signing a free agent deal with either the Cowboys or Denver Broncos. Mike Shanahan, then Denver's coach, offered $20,000. Dallas offered $10,000. Romo picked the Cowboys thinking he had a better shot to make the roster.

The first test: After spending the first three-and-a-half years of his career as a developmental project and backup, Romo finally got his shot. It was Week 7 of the 2006 season against the New York Giants. The Cowboys trailed 12-7 at the half, and struggling starter Drew Bledsoe had just thrown his eighth interception of the season. Then-coach Bill Parcells told Romo he would start the third quarter. Romo’s first play didn’t go as planned. On a naked bootleg, he rolled out and fired a pass that was tipped and intercepted by Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce. In his half of action, Romo finished 14 of 25 for 227 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in a game Dallas eventually lost 36-22.

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The first start: Still, Romo showed enough to earn an opportunity from Parcells. He started the next week against the Carolina Panthers and led the Cowboys to a 35-14 rout, throwing for 270 yards, one TD and one pick. Romo would go on to start 132 more games for the Cowboys and would finish with a record of 80-53.

The bobbled snap: Romo would lead the 2006 Cowboys to a wild-card berth. But one of his most memorable "highlights" is one he'd surely prefer to forget. Trailing 21-20 on the road to the Seattle Seahawks with just 79 seconds remaining in the playoff opener, the Cowboys lined up for a 20-yard field goal on fourth-and-1. Romo, who had served as the holder all season, bobbled the snap, then recovered it and tried to scamper into the end zone. He was tackled just short, and the Cowboys lost.

The Cabo trip: After leading the Cowboys to a 13-3 record in 2007 and the NFC's No. 1 playoff seed, Romo took a vacation in Cabo San Lucas during the bye week. He was joined in Mexico by actress and then-girlfriend Jessica Simpson along with linebacker Bobby Carpenter and tight end Jason Witten. Romo was roundly criticized for the trip after the Cowboys lost their playoff opener 21-17 to the Giants, a game which essentially ended with Romo throwing an interception on his final pass with Dallas 23 yards shy of a game-winning touchdown.

Good but not Super: Following his early playoff failures, Romo carried a stigma that he couldn’t win the big game and crumbled in the clutch. However he led 31 game-winning drives in his career, according to Pro Football Reference. He'll walk away having completed completing 65.3% of his passes for 34,183 yards, 248 touchdowns and a QB rating of 97.1 — all franchise records. Romo's passer rating ranks fourth in league history and is the highest of any quarterback who did not win the Super Bowl. And that's the rub. Unlike Cowboys Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, he never won a Lombardi Trophy or even reached an NFC Championship Game. Romo finishes with a 2-4 postseason record.

506: In Week 5 of the 2013 season, Romo joined an exclusive list of quarterback who have thrown for 500 yards in one game. Romo completed 25 of 36 passes for a career-high 506 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. Unfortunately for him, his final throw was intercepted at the Dallas 24-yard line, setting the Denver Broncos up for a game-winning field goal in a 51-48 shootout.

The injuries: Romo's injury list reads like the medical chart of a crash victim — broken pinkie (2008), broken collarbone (2010 and twice in 2015), punctured lung and broken rib (2011), ruptured disc (2013), two transverse process fractures in back (2014), compression fracture (2016). That final back injury, suffered in last year's preseason, prompted the end of his career after Dak Prescott replaced him and led the Cowboys to the best record in the NFC.

The awkward final year: Despite immediately settling in as the team's new leader, Prescott said all the right things and indicated that, “This is still Tony’s team," as the veteran recovered. But the better Prescott played, it became more apparent Romo's return to his old job was in jeopardy. There were a few weeks in the middle of the season when it was unclear what the Cowboys planned to do. It put players and coaches in the uncomfortable position of having to answer questions about the situation. Finally, on Nov. 15, Romo conceded the starting spot to Prescott, saying: “He has earned the right to be our starting quarterback.”

The last pass: The final image of Romo on a football field will be his Week 17 touchdown toss to Terrance Williams in the 2016 regular-season finale at Philadelphia. It came on Romo's only series of the season after he relieved Prescott in a game that had no bearing on Dallas' playoff seeding. Romo completed three of his four passes on the drive for 29 yards, including the 3-yard score.

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Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes

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