IRVING, Texas - The mystery over Tony Romo's ability to count to four has been solved.
A Fox 4 video sparked speculation Tuesday that the Cowboys quarterback may have been unaware that his incomplete pass in the final seconds of the loss to Denver came on fourth down.
Late Tuesday afternoon, after the topic boiled over on talk radio for more than four hours, Cowboys public relations director Rich Dalrymple issued a statement.
Dalrymple said Romo told the players in the huddle prior to the play that it was fourth down. But as Romo left the field, he noticed the down marker on the Cowboys sideline read "three."
Believing an error could have been made, Romo went to the officials and held up three fingers, asking if it had really been third down. He was told no.
It turns out the down marker was in the process of being changed sequentially from four to one to reflect the change of possession.
Wide receiver Patrick Crayton echoed that statement in his explanation of what happened.
"You've got to realize, after that play, we're taking our time, waiting to see if a flag is going to be thrown or whatever, and they're changing the down marker to go down," said Crayton, who was at Gil's Infield in Duncanville on Tuesday afternoon for an autograph signing session. "I see the same thing, thinking it says third down.
"Sometimes, it happens. You're thinking maybe they made a mistake. He knew it was over, but you can always ask."
On Monday, before the video was posted, coach Wade Phillips and receiver Sam Hurd were asked if Romo knew it was fourth down. Both said that he did.
"He always knows the down, distance and time," Crayton said. "He lets us know once he comes into the huddle and he did that."
