Tony Romo's wife spoke out about QB's 'suffering' after injury

Tony Romo has seen action in just one drive since Thanksgiving of 2015. And he'll likely never again take the field in a Cowboys uniform.

A trade or release offers Romo the best chance to start after losing his job as the Cowboys' starting quarterback to Dak Prescott. But according to Romo's wife, Candice, playing for another club won't be the same. The 2016 injury and backup already took a toll on Romo's psyche, she said.

"It's hard because he's competitive and competing on that field giving his body, his soul and emotion, his life to wanting to get a championship for the Dallas Cowboys and for the Joneses," Candice Romo told Tiffany Clutts during a September episode of Inside the Huddle. "It's hard when we've got a big rug pulled out from under us this year."

Candice said Romo facing a setback in 2016 wasn't new. She calls him "Pollyanna" for his eternal optimism in the darkest of times, always focused not on the past but "What can I do with what I've been dealt in this moment?"

And yet, suffering an L1 vertebrae compression fracture this preseason was different, Tony said in his November concession speech. Getting injured when surrounded by more talent than he'd had in years was "soul-crushing." Candice, too, said watching the Seattle game was the "worst feeling in the world."

"You're watching your spouse grovel in pain and suffering," she said.

"It's a dark place, probably the darkest it's ever been," Tony agreed. "You're sad and down and out and you ask yourself, 'Why did this have to happen?'"

Candice worked to support the usually-Pollyanna Romo. She aimed not to cry in front of him, not to focus on setbacks too much.

"His plans usually rarely work out how we want them to work out or how we think they should work out," Candice said. "So I have to remind myself I can only see this one picture that got shattered but who knows what comes from this."

With the Cowboys' 2016 season over, "what comes from this" appears to be Tony Romo playing football for another NFL team. The Houston Texans and Denver Broncos are among likely matches, but questions loom about the nearly 37-year-old's ability to stay healthy, especially without an offensive line of Dallas' caliber protecting him.

Candice knows her husband won't quit, she says. He's the same guy who was persistent enough to ask her on a date, wait two years to mature, and then follow up with another date request that would eventually end in marriage. He's the same competitor who she sometimes plays one-on-one basketball with, both getting "a little bit overly competitive to a fault," the same guy who took her on a jog for an early date that quickly became a race to finish first. And as a team leader, Tony Romo will still be the "people person" he's been while with the Cowboys, always hosting friends, family and teammates alike during seasons.

"It's always his idea and I'm like 'Oh I didn't know we were having a party tonight, honey,'" Candice said of Romo's affability.

That Romo rather than the writhing-in-pain Seattle image of her husband is whom Candice envisions as an NFL starting quarterback next season.

"I'm pretty amazed at his spirit because sometimes I crumble," she said. "I feel sad for - for him and not getting to go accomplish what he was setting out to accomplish this year.

"Maybe we still can. He'll be back."