We can stop blaming Jessica for Dallas’ loss to Philadelphia

I have to admit that when Dallas lost to Philadelphia 10-6 last week, I was very quick to blame Jessica Simpson, as was a lot of other people.

I trash talked her. I made fun of her. I even jumped on the ‘Tony Romo should keep Jessica away’ bandwagon.

But, a week after watching all the media attention given to the game, the game statistic comparisons between when Simpson and when Carrie Underwood attended, the picking apart of Terrell Owens’ comments, I was completely over it all.

Then yesterday, I saw this Web site that cracked me up. T.O. said he was having fun by cracking jokes about Simpson not being a ‘fan favorite’ in the Cowboys’ locker room or at Texas Stadium, but that minor compared to what www.ruinromo.com.

Now, that is people having fun with the Romo-Simpson deal. They have a picture of Simpson they want fans to print and cut out, paste onto cardboard and a popsicle stick to bring to the games to let Romo know she’s there for him.

All we need now is the sound bite of Simpson cheering “Romo,” and we’re all set.

(Yes, I printed out the picture and did my best Simpson impression, for fun.)

Honestly, though, it wasn’t Simpson who finished 13-of-36 for 214 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. She didn’t have a quarterback rating of 22.2 rating. And she wasn’t the wide receiver that dropped all those passes.

I did think she was a distraction, with the cameras getting shots of her, but she couldn’t been any more of a distraction to Romo than any of the other celebrity girlfriends of superstar athletes.

“Desperate Housewife” Eva Longoria sat courtside at many a San Antonio Spurs game for Tony Parker. Singer/actress Mandy Moore attended Andy Roddick’s tennis matches. Actress Ashley Judd attended Dario Franchitti’s Indy Car races.

I think the circumstances were slightly different in that there wasn’t that much attention on the other women attending those games as there was on Simpson sitting in the front seat in the luxury booth.

Apparently Gisele Bundchen attends Tom Brady’s Patriot games, but we never see her.

Romo is a big-time athlete with a six-year, $67.5 million contract. He plays in front of thousands of people in the stands and millions of people watching on television. He is after all a professional athlete. I would like to think that he’s able to focus on the game and not his girlfriend.

I say it’s over now. Let it go. Simpson had attended other games and Romo did just fine. They won last night 20-13. There’s no word of whether or not Simpson was there or not.

Either way, we’ve had our fun poking at the two of them and now it’s time to move on. There’ll be a new flavor of the week before we know it. T.O.’s ankle is excluded though. Joking around about a girlfriend distracting a QB is one thing. A serious ankle injury is another.