The conditions for Sunday's regular-season opener - a nationally-televised, primetime match-up against the Giants at Texas Stadium (7:15 p.m. CDT) - are eerily similar. But oh, how things have changed for Romo in 10 months.
He's no longer a former undrafted free agent from Division 1-AA Eastern Illinois waiting patiently for a chance to play. He's now a Pro Bowl quarterback, having earned a spot on the NFC squad after leading the Cowboys to a 6-4 record in the final 10 games after Bledsoe's benching.
He's no longer an anonymous face on the sideline. He's now the face of the franchise - gracing the cover of magazines, endorsing products and playing in celebrity golf tournaments. He even fulfilled every 27-year-old man's dream this off-season - serving as a judge in the Miss Universe pageant.
Life has accelerated considerably since Oct. 23, 2006. But in some respects, little has changed.
Romo enters his first full season as a starter still out to prove himself. Prove he can lead the Cowboys past the first round of the playoffs and erase the painful image of that dropped field-goal snap in last year's 21-20 wild-card loss to Seattle. Prove that incredible 10-game stretch, in which he posted the third-best quarterback rating in team history (95.1) behind legends Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, was no fluke.
"At the end of the day, everybody, I don't care who you are, has to come out and prove that they're good again," Romo said. "I can remember still, Daunte Culpepper being second in MVP voting, and a year later after that he's not with the team anymore.
"So each year brings about a whole new set of challenges, a whole new set of proving to your coaches, your fans, everybody, that you're good enough to do it and you're good enough to help your team win. That's all you're trying to do."
By doing that this year, he also can ensure long-term financial security in Dallas.
Romo is in the final season of a two-year, $3.9 million deal he signed last August while still a backup. The Cowboys have entered discussions with Romo's camp about a new contract, and team owner and general manager Jerry Jones has made clear his intentions to keep Romo as his future quarterback.
But Jones also admits he doesn't mind waiting a little longer before a deal is struck. After all, Jones has only seen Romo start 11 games, including last year's playoffs, since he arrived in 2003.
One thing is clear: If Romo again plays at a Pro Bowl level and the team is successful, Jones will reward him handsomely. He's done it many times for players in the past.
"I've had more success paying too much for something that is obvious quality than I have getting bargains and living with that result," Jones said. "The Cowboys are a perfect example. The Cowboys are quality; they were a great franchise. Everybody that even looked at it said, 'Jerry's nuts. He overpaid. Where did he get that?'
"What it means is that probably you'll make a sounder decision the more you know. You may pay more, but you'll make a sounder decision.
"I don't want to say that it's assured that he's going to be a perennial All-Pro. I can't see that. I don't not see it, but I can't see it from just the time that he's played. But I've got a suspicion that he's going to be playing at that level and going to be playing at that from this point forward."
Romo has doggedly prepared himself for that kind of success, no matter what some might think.
Wide receiver Patrick Crayton chuckles when asked about Romo's rock star-like off-season. That's only perception, he says. Crayton also knows how hard Romo worked on weekends and days off, often throwing balls to him at the Valley Ranch practice field.
That work ethic - a "football rat" mentality, Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips says - has helped win over teammates. Phillips and his players also talk about Romo's infectious self-assurance, even in a jam.
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I love this play opening up at home for the Cowboys.
They Giants are not as good as they think they are.
