Seriously,

Google the words "Brett Favre practical joker" and you will see that the Grey Fox is widely known for his love a good knee-slapper at the price of friends and teammates. I cannot even begin to fathom how annoying it is to be around Brett Favre on April 1st. So when I heard that Tony Romo had received advice from Favre about the possibility of playing with a broken pinky finger rigged up in some sort of splint, I naturally thought Tony would also later arrive home to find that all his toilets had been wrapped with cling film and all his doorknobs were coated in Vaseline. Good one, Brett. Got me again!

But no, apparently Tony Romo has told the Cowboys coaches that he intends to play with a broken finger. To which the Cowboys coaching staff should have responded by patting him on the head and saying, "Of course you are, Tony, of course you are. Now this Noodles and Stars soup isn't going to eat itself..." Seriously, who thinks this is a good idea? Let me answer that: anyone who hasn't seen Romo's inability to hold onto the ball with perfectly good, working hands and fingers. I understand that Tony Romo may feel as if he's let his team down, which to a certain degree he has with his mistakes and mishandling of the ball. Neither of which would improve with him playing with a broken, rigged-up finger.

I admire his work ethic and I admire the fact that he's willing to play in extreme pain if it would help the Cowboys. I mean that. But we haven't even seen Brad Johnson throw a ball in a regular season game this year. It almost feels like, though it's highly unlikely, that Romo is more scared of the idea of Brad Johnson being better than everyone is anticipating. Which, again, seems pretty improbable considering most 40 year olds I know are starting to feel more and more like Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon.

We aren't in the final stretch of the season desperately hoping for the wild card slot in the playoffs. There's no reason to not give Brad Johnson a chance and risk further injuring your throwing hand, Tony. We don't need a hero right now.

If nothing else, this fact should give the Cowboys enough faith in Brad Johnson:

"To date, Brad Johnson is the only NFL quarterback to have thrown a touchdown pass to himself."