LANDOVER, Md. — Shades of Donovan McNabb.
Somebody needs to teach a course to NFL quarterbacks on the rules of overtime after Tony Romo joined McNabb yesterday in admitting he didn’t know them.
Romo could have cost the Cowboys an important win in the NFC East race by trying to call a timeout in overtime that he didn’t have. But instead of a 15-yard penalty that would have taken Dallas out of range for the game-winning kick, the Redskins bailed out Romo by calling timeout at the same time he was signaling the officials for one of his own.
Romo sheepishly admitted after the 27-24 win that he thought teams got three timeouts in OT, not two, even though the officials announce the rules to the entire stadium during the OT coin toss.
“I noticed that after the fact,” Romo said with an embarrassed smile. “I guess you get two timeouts in overtime, not three. [The Redskins] helped us out.”
Romo joined the dunce club after McNabb, who was ridiculed in 2008 for admitting after the Eagles’ 13-13 deadlock with the Bengals that he didn’t know regular-season games could end in a tie.
Romo initially tried to laugh off the gaffe, saying, “They were calling timeout, so I did, too,” before revealing he panicked.
“The clock was running down, and I was trying to stop it,” he said.