It’s not clear if Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will get into trouble with the NFL after he criticized the league for cancelling a Fantasy Sports convention scheduled for next month that he was backing.
The league cancelled the event because it was to be held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. More than 100 NFL players were scheduled to attend.
The league then contacted the NFL Players Association to remind players of league policy against “players and NFL personnel may not participate in promotional activities or other appearances in connection with events that are held at or sponsored by casinos.”
Romo told ESPN that it was “interesting” that the league waited until the event had been set and tickets were sold to take its stand.
“If they really wanted to just be a part of it, all they had to do was just call and ask. It would’ve been a lot easier, I think, than going about the process the way they did,” Romo said. “We understand that these things come about and there’s big money involved sometimes from the NFL’s perspective. If we had known about the issue of the place or thought that was something that could’ve been an issue, the NFL could’ve told us that right away. That’s where it makes it interesting.”
The event was first announced in March.
Romo said he feels the NFL was more interested in keeping players away from the event than cancelling it, but also implied the league has a hypocritical stance on casinos.
He pointed to a sponsorship agreement between the MGM Grand Detroit and the Detroit Lions for a field-level club area being added to Ford Field.
“They talk about how no players or NFL personnel are to be associated with casinos, well, I’m like, that doesn’t really make sense,” Romo told ESPN. “There’s just far too many cases and it does make it sound sometimes that it’s an issue about money, which is disappointing because we were just trying to get the fans to hang out with players.”
Romo’s comments have not landed him in hot water with his Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.
“If we have a conversation, it’ll be a short one,” Garrett told the Associated Press when asked if he’d talk to Romo about the event.
Romo later told the AP that he’s not heard from the NFL.
No. I have not had any contact, before or after,” he said.
The NFL, however, did send out a tweet earlier last week using Romo’s picture that was quickly taken down.
“Obviously when someone takes it down after nine minutes, it tells you probably all you need to know,” Romo said.
Spokespeople for the NFL have said the league wasn’t aware of the event until two weeks before they acted and that the location of the event was the league’s sole concern.
