TOM BRADY SPEAKS THE TRUTH

After the Dallas Cowboy's disastrous second half Sunday the the old Romoniacs turned maniacal. The fair-haired darling turned into a pumpkin. Our scapegoat society must always find its sacrificial lamb, and Cowboy fans readily discovered theirs in Tony Romo. A legion of Cowboyites even go so far as to put the blame on blond movie stars. Tom Brady, a man who knows a thing or two about partying, quickly defended Romo:

Other little treats from the weekly Tom-a-thon included Brady calling the Tony Romo-Jessica Simpson blame game “absurd.” (Fans are incensed that Tony, who lost to Eli’s Giants Sunday, spent his off week cavorting in Mexico with the dim-bulb pop star.)

“Everybody has lives,” said Tom. “We work seven months, eight months, out of the year. You still have a life to live. On the weekends you do whatever you do to relax and rejuvenate. It’s not like they can go to the local eatery in Dallas and hang out.”

Like, say Tom and galpal Gisele Bundchen at Extra Virgin in NYC . . . .

“If they caught the ball in the end zone at the end, nobody makes any mention (of the Mexican trip),” said the QB/QT who spent his bye week in the Apple with Gi because, you know, he’s a “homebody.”

“You alleviate a lot of criticism by winning,” said Brady. “That’s what I’ve realized for eight years.”

Romo can't block, play special teams, or catch passes, skills that apparently elude the entire team. And pro athletes notoriously carry on with questionable people. Most of the time they seem to separate their private life from their performance on the field. I once heard Phil Simms mention that a quarterback usually reaches his potential by his third year. This was Romo's first full year. Cut the man some slack and gauge his performance over the next two years. Then come back to the bargaining table.