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Tony Romo
The common trope was that Romo failed to show up in the fourth quarter, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Often done in by deadly Dallas Cowboys defenses that forced him to win shootouts, Romo is the current holder of the NFL's all-time best passer rating in the fourth quarter, and he led the team to 24 fourth-quarter comebacks during his decade-long tenure as the Cowboys' franchise man. Had Romo played anywhere but in Dallas — a place where accomplishments vault to the the top of the NFL's headlines but where shortcomings are equally, if not more, amplified — his rise from undrafted, Division I-AA-based free agent to NFL superstar would have gone down as one of the most inspirational stories in league history.
If anything, it's good to see that Romo's current endeavors as a color analyst for CBS Sports' most valuable NFL contests (brought upon by late injuries in Dallas) have won him a new legion of fans through his energetic commentary and uncanny ability to predict plays as they unfold.
Alex Smith
At the end of the day, Alex Smith's ultimate sin might've been that he was too "boring". Sure, his rep takes a bit of a hit when one realizes that the San Francisco 49ers chose Smith ahead of one Aaron Rodgers at the 2005 NFL Draft. But Smith, cursed with endless turnovers on the 49ers' coaching staff during his early years, recovered to push the team in the right direction, eventually situating them one knee away from the Super Bowl in 2012.
Despite Smith setting San Francisco on a path toward postseason success, an injury led to him losing the starting role to the multi-talented Colin Kaepernick the following season.
Smith moved on to Kansas City, where he helped break the Chiefs' two-plus decade playoff win drought in 2015. Two years later, he was the NFL's top-rated passer. Alas! A similar fate awaited his Kansas City career, as he was usurped in the franchise role by first-round choice Patrick Mahomes in 2018 (though Smith was said to have played an instrumental role in the latter's NFL development).
Smith spent the final years of his career with Washington, where his luck took a nearly deadly turn in a November 2018 meeting with Houston. After suffering a devastating leg injury during the game, Smith's life was threatened by an infection during surgery that seemed to annihilate the already-remote possibility of continuing his NFL career.
Instead, Smith fought his way back onto the field and spent the majority of the 2020 season as Washington's quarterback en route to their NFC East title run. For his efforts, Smith, who retired after the season, was awarded the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year honor.
