Bill Romanowski made a career out of hitting opponents and made controversy by hitting teammates…
Michael David Smith / FootballOutsiders.com
Bill Romanowski made a career out of hitting opponents and made controversy by hitting teammates. But his new book, “Romo, My Life on the Edge: Living Dreams and Slaying Dragons” reveals a more cerebral man than most fans might expect.
Romanowski’s workout habits are legendary. But few fans know that what first inspired him to become a workout warrior was a Sports Illustrated article about Herschel Walker. After reading about Walker’s workout routine of pushups, situps, and sprints, Romanowski copied it. And throughout his career Romanowski continued to study every piece of literature he could find on health, fitness and nutrition in a constant attempt to gain new insight that could help him achieve peak performance on the field and recuperate quickly off it.
Some say Romanowski stepped over the line in his pursuit of peak fitness. He acknowledges that he took THG, supplied to him by BALCO founder Victor Conte, who has been the subject of a lengthy government steroid investigation and who will serve four months in jail after making a plea deal with prosecutors. Romanowski was acquitted in 2001 of charges that he illegally used friends and his wife to obtain the prescription drug Phentermine. And after the acquittal, prosecutors dropped charges against his wife.
The book details many of Romanowski’s most controversial moments: On the practice field, Romanowski once punched teammate Marcus Williams so hard that he broke Williams’ orbital bone. Williams never played again, sued Romanowski, and eventually received a $415,000 settlement from him. In an exhibition game with the Carolina Panthers, Romanowski nailed Kerry Collins with the crown of his helmet, breaking Collins’ jaw. The NFL fined Romanowski $20,000. At the bottom of a pileup, Romanowski once grabbed running back Dave Meggett’s finger, pulled back, and broke it. And Monday Night Football cameras caught Romanowski spitting in the face of 49ers wide receiver J.J. Stokes.
“Romo” (co-written with the NFL Network’s Adam Schefter and Romanowski’s performance coach, Phil Towle) deals with his playing career from high school to retirement, but it also explores his relationship with his wife and children.
I spoke with Romanowski recently for an Q&A that covered his public image, his private self and all the ins and outs of his 16 years in the NFL. From steroids and supplements, to fights and broken bones, to his influences and the seemingly fanatical drive that has gotten him into trouble at times, nothing was out of bounds.
In 20 years, if NFL Films does a Bill Romanowski special, what do you think people will say about you?
It’s a guy who every Sunday left it out on the field. It’s a guy who played with a very high intensity level. It’s a guy who played 243 straight games, not counting playoff games, and never missed a game. This is a guy that wherever he went, winning followed him.
Do you think you deserve to be elected to the Hall of Fame?
I think I do. I’ve done something that no one in the history of the game has done, as far as a linebacker, to play that kind of position and never miss a game. I never thought about it that much while I was doing it, I was just caught up in slaying the next dragon getting ready for the next game, the next season, the next workout, the next training camp. I really never sat down and thought, “This is pretty unbelievable, what I’ve accomplished.”
And do you think you will be elected to the Hall of Fame?
That one’s completely out of my control. I just went out there and gave it everything I had for 16 years. If the writers think I belong, they’ll put me there.
You wrote that you’ve grown through therapy and self-reflection. What exactly was that like?
Whenever you start taking a look at yourself, it’s not easy. For me, the self-reflection of looking back and kind of analyzing each and every thing you’ve done, that part wasn’t easy. It was therapeutic in so many ways. To write this book, a lot of people say, when I hear sportswriters talk about “Why did you write this book?” people say, “You just did that to make a bunch of money.” No. That isn’t why I wrote the book.
This whole process has really been a good process for me and my growth, moving forward as a person. The NFL was really, really hard. To play in the National Football League for 16 years and I didn’t realize all the things I was doing to myself while I was doing it. I think the therapy, the self-reflection, even now, I’ve hired a performance coach. When you’re in the NFL my approach was always take care of your weakest links. When you address your weakest links it just makes you that much stronger. And that’s what therapy and performance coaching and self-reflection has done for me. It’s about reflecting on what I’ve done and what I think about what I’ve done and having someone analyze it for me, and for me it’s just about being my best.
When you talk about how hard the NFL was, are you thinking about the concussions, the physical toll, or was there more to it?
There was the physical toll, there was the mental; it was a heck of a ride. For me, I never took a deep breath. I never sat back and said, “What is this all about? What do I like about what I’m doing, what don’t I like?” I was just so caught up in what I had to do next. There was never a time for me to sit back and relax and maybe analyze what was going on. Looking back, I think if I would’ve done that it would’ve been good for me.
I’d like to ask about some of your former teammates. What was Doug Flutie like as a college teammate?
Doug Flutie was an unbelievable leader. He was a guy who when he was on the field, you thought you were going to win. And over and over again that’s what he proved, that he was a winner. I just remember the games he was in, all the great plays that he made. It was more than the plays, it was just that when he was out on the field, there was a certain confidence that the team had that you were going to win the football game.
Are you amazed he’s still in the league?
Absolutely. It’s awesome.
He was three years ahead of you?
He was a senior when I was a freshman.
You write about how much you admired Herschel Walker growing up. Did you continue to admire him when you played with him in Philadelphia?
Absolutely. He was an awesome teammate. For me he was a guy that had an enormous impact on my life. Reading that article about him and what he did each and every night, that’s what I did. That’s how I got to where I am now, is by, as a high school kid dreaming about making it to the NFL, making it to college, getting a scholarship, that was truly how it all began.
You emulated Herschel’s workout routine, but Herschel was always known as a quiet, reserved person. Were the two of you very different in terms of personality?
I don’t really know Herschel Walker that well as a person to comment on that. He was a great teammate.
Your fight in practice with Marcus Williams wasn’t an isolated incident:you got into practice fights with Fred McCrary, Bubba Paris, even Jerry Rice. Why would you get in a fight with a teammate in practice?
Why would I get into a fight? You make it sound like I tried to get into a fight in some way.
And that’s not the case?
Well, I played football for 16 years. It’s a very violent sport. You get into training camp where there’s fights that happen every day on the practice field. This was a day when two days earlier we got our butts kicked by the Minnesota Vikings, and the coaches were really amped up, really pushing us. I had had a concussion, I was pretty irritable, and I got pushed in the back after this one play and I retaliated.
Have you seen the television interviews Marcus Williams has done?
Very few.
He seems like he’s still angry with you. Do you think he’s justified?
Is he justified for being angry? You know what, I can’t really comment on him or his anger and what his issues are. I know we got in a fight in training camp. We went through a long court case. You know, he pushed me in the back, we got in a fight, we grabbed each other’s facemasks, he swung at me, I swung at him, and right before I connected his helmet came off and it was a split second. Looking back on it I wish it didn’t happen. I wish after he pushed me in the back I would’ve just walked back to the huddle and said, “I’ll get you on the next play.”
You wrote in the book that you screamed at Kordell Stewart, “You dumb s—. You’re one of the dumbest guys I’ve ever played against.” Why would you talk to an opponent, Kordell Stewart or anyone else, like that?
To try to get them out of their game. There’s stuff that happens each and every play out on a football field. Guys trying to say things like that to me every play to try to get me out of my game. There’s a lot of verbal warfare out on a football field. I tried to do whatever I could do to get somebody out of their game.
What about Kerry Collins? Are you proud of the hit that broke his jaw?
It was a good hit.
So you shouldn’t have gotten fined?
I’m not saying I shouldn’t have gotten fined, I’m just saying the way it worked out, right before contact he turned into me, it’s just one of those..you hate to see a guy get hurt out on the football field. I would never, ever want to see a guy get hurt. But as far as just the actual football hit, the way it happened, it was a good hit. It was one of those kind of hits that gets everybody fired up out on the football field. But the fact that he got hurt is very unfortunate. You hate to see that happen.
You mention breaking Dave Meggett’s finger intentionally. Do you have remorse for that? Have you ever apologized to him?
Absolutely. At the bottom of the pile, I’m reaching down and I’m trying to rip the ball out of his hand. In that process I got hold of a finger and just yanked. It’s one of those things that shouldn’t happen out on a football field. It just doesn’t belong.
Have you ever talked to Dave Meggett since then?
I haven’t.
Would you apologize to him?
Absolutely.
You felt that the NFL was hypocritical because they promote violence and then at the same time you were fined.
They do promote violence. You see the hits. What you see on TV, the big-hit videos, Crunch Course, you’ve seen those over the years, they’ve made a lot of money on those. If there weren’t big hits out there and it wasn’t as violent a game as it is, I don’t think there would be the people filling the stands every week. People enjoy seeing that.
Were you able to confine your anger to the field or do you also have times in your personal life where you’re kind of an angry person?
No, I’m a pretty easy-going guy.
So you can turn it on and off?
For me, the game of football is a violent sport. Playing at a very high level of intensity, that line between rage and intensity and violence those are all thin lines that as I’ve said many times, when passion was driving me, great things happened to me out on the football field. When fear was driving me I went over that line.
Why was fear different from passion?
Fear is something that I was scared of losing my job every day in the NFL. For 16 years I don’t think I ever lost that. And I had coaches teaching me, training me to hit people as hard as I possibly could. I think there’s a very thin line between a great football hit and one that is a dirty hit. I think that’s a very thin line.
Ex-players who become TV analysts usually aren’t really critical of their fellow players. But Dan Marino of CBS called you “sad,” Mike Ditka said most of your greatest hits were “from behind, out of bounds or after the whistle.” And Shannon Sharpe said you didn’t play because you were talented, you played because you cheated the system. How do you respond to guys like that?
It’s their opinion. Mike Ditka, I didn’t play for Mike Ditka. Mike Ditka had a lot of success in the NFL and I think if all my good hits were just hits out of bounds I don’t think I would’ve lasted 16 years and started as many games as I started and played for as many great teams as I did. And as far as Shannon Sharpe, he said he’ll go to his grave saying that I tried to hurt him.
And you didn’t?
No, I didn’t try to hurt him.
Let’s turn now to steroids. What percentage of NFL players do you think use steroids?
I think it’s zero.
Really?
Yeah.
What makes you think it’s zero?
I have no idea what guys do. So as far as I’m concerned it’s zero.
You got THG from BALCO beginning in 2001?
Yeah.
Is THG the only steroid you ever used?
THG is still to this day they don’t know if it’s an anabolic steroid. I wrote about what I wrote about in the book. This book isn’t a tell-all book, it’s a tell-why book. It’s why I did what I did.
Has our society become overly obsessed with steroids?
I think it’s a great thing. I think it’s something that was supposed to happen and it did. It’s forced many families to talk about these issues with their sons and daughters. It’s forced organizations to bring much stricter policies like the policy that the NFL has had in place. So I think for a lot of reasons it’s been very positive as far as bringing the awareness out in the open.
What is the distinction between steroids and supplements? What’s the line between what’s OK to take and what’s not OK to take?
That’s a tough one. When I decided to take this substance (THG) I didn’t know exactly what it was. I knew I was pushing the line but I didn’t know exactly what I was taking. I just knew it was not on the NFL banned list and I knew I would not test positive. What I should’ve asked myself is, “Is this right or wrong?” I didn’t ask that. I was trying to get a couple more years out of my body. I was trying to do things to handle the pain and to handle the trauma that I was going through every Sunday.
Do any of the substances you have taken, be it THG, any supplement, anything, do you feel like they have a psychological effect?
Absolutely. I think at the end of the day it was more psychological than anything. What was the most effective thing for me was my work ethic. I was willing to work harder than anybody else, no questions asked and at the end of the day I could rely on that. And still to this day I don’t know if I got much out of (THG).
And that’s part of that self-reflection. That’s part of the therapy, that’s part of looking back on things, is, “Was it worth it?” Another thing is, just in general, supplementation is great. Athletes do not get what we need out of our food. So for anybody to say, “Just eat three good meals a day you’ll be fine,” well, no you won’t be fine. I know this. For I don’t know how many years I was given as much Vioxx as I wanted to take, which are an anti-inflammatory which are now pulled and not given out anymore because of heart and liver conditions. But it was fine to take those medications.
And was that team doctors giving you Vioxx?
Yes.
The incident with J.J. Stokes everyone knows about, but a lot of people don’t know that a couple plays before that, you were called for unnecessary roughness for hitting Steve Young, and right before you spat in Stokes’ face you wrote in the book that you grabbed his testicles in a pileup. What was going on with you on that particular day?
I was playing my old team. Playing a team that got rid of me. Playing a team that didn’t think I was good enough. And I think whenever I played against my old team, we were playing in Candlestick which is where I played for six years and had many great memories, it was just that extra motivation to go out there and kick ass.
Another former teammate I wanted to ask you about who you mentioned briefly is Martin Harrison. He claims that you used the “N” word when referring to black teammates. You say it didn’t happen.
Right. I have an African-American nephew. That is absolutely not who I am…It’s hard for me to comment on because it’s made up.
With the Stokes incident, you wrote, “that hurt more than anything, that someone would think my actions were racially motivated.”
There was stuff going on in the locker room in Denver, and finally during a team meeting John Elway got up in front of the team and said, “This guy has done about everything but get down on his hands and knees. Let’s put this behind us and play football.”
You seem like you admire John Elway a lot.
I have a lot of admiration for John. John’s one of the best football players I’ve ever played with.
People have said he might he might run for Congress some day. Do you think that’s a possibility?
I don’t know if that’s a possibility. I don’t know if that’s something, if John’s into politics or if he wants to go in that direction. If he does it I’m sure he’ll do it very well.
Are you interested in politics?
No.
Are you a Democrat or Republican?
Republican.
What did you think of the fact that President Bush mentioned steroids in his State of the Union and that Congress has had hearings? Is that a good thing?
I think the awareness has been a very good thing for our society.
Do you think you might be called to testify?
If I am called and they want to talk with me, they’ll definitely talk with someone that has a lot of knowledge about the subject and someone that is not going to get up there and plead the Fifth and do some of the other things that have been done in front of Congress.
With the substances you talk about, supplements, THG, it sounds like your biggest regret is that you got your wife and friends involved with Phentermine prescriptions. Do you have other regrets along those lines?
Absolutely. I have regrets on taking THG. I wish I would have asked the question of right and wrong vs. pushing the edge vs. legal or illegal, something that is or is not on the banned list. If you look at it that way, everything I did was above; there were no problems with what I was doing. But morally and ethically, right and wrong, I should’ve known that I was pushing the envelope and I shouldn’t have taken it.
With supplements you tried everything from vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids.
I still to this day am a huge advocate of supplementation. Supplementation is phenomenal. I’m still very much involved in the industry. I’ve come out with my own line. When I had all my concussions I went around to the different specialists in the country and you know what they told me? “There’s nothing you can do.” That doesn’t work for me. So I hired a sports scientist and together we came up with a bunch of ingredients that would really help the brain handle trauma and help it function better.
I started taking it, and I got such good results that I decided to name it and start a supplement company around it. So I started a supplement company called Pure Romo Nutrition and the product that I came out with for the brain is called Neuropath. And I’ve had an enormous amount of people that have really enjoyed the product and are getting great results from it. It’s one of those things where I took a negative and turned it into a positive.
I think of all the things you mentioned the one that is seemingly the most bizarre is that you actually considered drinking urine until your wife talked you out of it.
Well, she didn’t talk me out of it, we just talked about it, and bottom line, it was just something that…everything I ever thought about doing I researched. I consulted with specialists, consulted with doctors, nutritionists, you name it. And that was one that a lot of cultures for thousands of years have been doing this. I decided at the end of the day that I don’t think this one’s going to work for me.
This isn’t in your book at all, but it’s making news in the sports world right now. Sheryl Swoopes of the WNBA recently revealed that she’s gay. How would you have reacted if a teammate had told you he was gay?
I think if someone in the locker room would come out and say that, they would probably catch a lot of..I don’t even know what you would call it, but I think it would be hard in a locker room environment.
Me personally, how I feel about that, is these are human beings. They’re loving, caring human beings that have a certain sexual preference that ..who am I to judge? With what I’ve gone through in my life and the mistakes that I’ve made and things that happened to me, I truly try not to judge anybody by how they feel and what their sexual preference is. I actually had a trainer in San Francisco that was gay. There was a big article that came out about it…and he was a very good man. A great trainer, a good man, and very good at what he did. I can honestly say every injury he ever diagnosed of mine, or helped me get over, he was right on.
Back to your teammates, you mentioned that you seemed to admire Matt Millen a lot. Are you surprised that he hasn’t been able to turn the Detroit Lions around?
Sometimes it takes a little longer. I think Matt’s a very talented guy. It would be one thing if that was something Matt had done from the time he got finished with football, but to just leave from broadcasting and go into being a general manager I think the job was probably a little more difficult than he thought.
How much football do you watch on TV?
I watch a good bit. I’m a fan.
Are you rooting for your old teams or your old teammates?
I like to watch the Raiders and the Broncos. I still have guys that I played with on those teams that I like to see do well.
What do you think of Tedy Bruschi’s decision to play so soon after suffering a stroke?
I think it’s awesome. And he’s an inspiration. It was very clear, I watched some of his press conference after the game and you know what? He’s a football player, and he consulted with his doctors, and he decided, “I’m going to do what I want to do. And this is my livelihood and this is what I love and I’ve always loved to do and I’m going to continue to do it.”
I think it was pretty inspirational. I think there’s a lot of people who think he’s crazy, but I’ve played the game, I know what kind of high you get running out on that field and being able to do what you love to do. I know what that feels like. It’s one of those situations where we’ll never know if he’s doing the right thing or the wrong thing, but for him, this is what’s right for him.
Are concussions a more serious problem than the league wants to admit?
Absolutely.
What should the league do about concussions?
What can you do? I think when guys get concussed, and there are so many more concussions that go undiagnosed, bottom line, when you strike someone, even with a helmet on, your brain is getting concussed. It’s not good, this is just my belief, that it’s not good for your brain. Would I do it all over again? Yes. Would I have played football again? Yes. But the trauma is hard on your brain.
You wrote that while you were under contract with the Eagles, Mike Shanahan told you he wanted you on the Broncos, and when you were under contract with the Broncos, Jon Gruden told your agent he wanted you on the Raiders. Are those things allowed, is tampering…
I think it’s a little different than that. Mike Shanahan was someone that I was close with. I used to have conversations in the weight room when he coached in San Francisco. We used to be down in the weight room working out together and he’d be someone I would talk to, so after the game he said, “Romo, you’re playing great. Let’s talk after the season.” You can look into that and say, “What did that mean? Did it mean let’s just talk, did it mean I want to sign you?” That could mean whatever you want it to mean.
Joe Vitt, your position coach in Philly, once told you he loved you.
He’s a great man.
You must be rooting for him in St. Louis.
Absolutely. He’s a great man.
Another coach was Ray Rhodes, your defensive coordinator in San Francisco and Denver and your head coach in Philadelphia, and you were gone from all three places pretty quickly after he arrived. Was there something about your relationship that he didn’t want you around?
I don’t think Ray was ever in the position to make those kinds of decisions. Whether he had influence or not, I don’t know. A couple of weeks ago I actually talked to Ray.
Are you two friends?
I would say so. I root for him, I hope he does well. I actually sent him some of my product to help him get over his stroke.
You mention Barret Robbins but you don’t really say what you thought of that whole incident (when Robbins left the Oakland Raiders on the eve of the Super Bowl). What is your opinion of Barret Robbins?
Barret was a good teammate. He was a good football player that got into trouble.
Were you angry with him?
No. I wasn’t angry with him. Once again, who am I to judge?
I thought this was kind of funny: Bubby Brister once offered to help Randall Cunningham work on his reads, and Cunningham replied, “The Lord will help me with my reads.” What kind of influence was religion in locker rooms generally, and did you have a lot of guys who made comments like that or was Randall one of a kind?
I don’t think a lot of guys made comments like that. For me it’s no disrespect to God, the Lord. It’s a great thing. But I felt that was just something that I would write about. Bubby’s a great man. He’s one of the best teammates you could ever have. I remember him telling me that and Bubby was always a guy that wanted to help and he wanted to help Randall.
Would you want your son to play in the NFL?
Absolutely.