In an NFL career that spanned 16 seasons with four teams, Bill Romanowski (aka “Romo”) earned a reputation as a ferocious linebacker, playing 243 consecutive games. As tenacious on the NFL beat as Romo was on the gridiron was Adam Schefter, who covered the Denver Broncos for 15 years (nine with The Denver Post), missing only one game — to a best friend’s nuptials.
Birds of a feather work together, it seems.
Now a reporter for the NFL Network, Schefter covered the Broncos for the duration of Romanowski’s stint with the Broncos from 1996-2001. During that span, often the twain did meet, be it in Greeley to discuss training camp (remember Greeley?), in locker rooms to discuss games and in postseason to discuss either of the Broncos’ two Super Bowl victories. Their most pivotal meeting, however, would not come until Romanowski retired from the league.
As instructed, Schefter helped himself into Romanowski’s residence in Lone Tree in March 2004. Chosen by Romanowski from a short list of potential co-authors that included only Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly, Schefter appeared for the first of 20 one-hour sessions to collaborate in chronicling the linebacker’s tempestuous NFL career.
“Romo!” beckoned Schefter as he walked through the front door.
“Hey, Adam!” answered Romanowski from upstairs. “How’s your immune system?”
“Fine?” responded Schefter. “Why do you ask?”
Romanowski: “I just figured that when we were sitting down to do the first chapter that you might want to get a vitamin C IV with me.”
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| This is an early draft of the book cover before Bill Romanowski remade it to include a new title as well as contributions from a performance coach. “Everything from the day he’s born to the day he makes his last NFL tackle is all mine,” said co-author Adam Schefter. |
If he didn’t know it at that instant, Schefter soon learned that 20 hours for recorded discussions would not nearly be enough. And after four feverish rewrites and “about a year and a half’s worth of contact,” said Schefter, “Romo: My Life on the Edge — Living Dreams and Slaying Dragons” was completed.
As is their wont, the media have initially focused on the sensationalist aspects of the book. CBS’ “60 Minutes” got the ball rolling Sunday with a highly publicized interview of Romanowski, focusing on the linebacker’s experiments with THG and live cell therapy. Can you blame the media?
In the wake of Jose Canseco’s tell-all book about steroids in Major League Baseball, ‘roids have become the rage of talk radio, the league office, even the Senate. After reading Romanowski’s book, however, I was surprised to see that it shared little in common with Canseco’s “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big.”
No names tarnished. No achievements sullied. No clear aim to make a buck.
So, a skeptic might ask: Why write, Romo?
“I know why he wrote the book,” said Schefter on Monday, the day before HarperCollins released the book, which weighs in at a little over 300 pages. “Romo, believe it or not, is very image conscious. Very. He wanted the last word on his image. His kids hear so much at school.
“And you know what? This book isn’t a tell-all book. It’s a tell-why book. Why he did the things he did. Why he took phentermine. Why he took ephedra. Why he took THG. Again, these things are not illegal at the time he took them. But there’s a method to his madness — always.
“He didn’t just randomly take these things for the fun of it, like some guy on a weekend using drugs recreationally — ‘Oh, I think I’ll take some Ecstasy tonight’ — that’s not like this. This guy is like a mad scientist. He is as knowledgeable, or more knowledgeable, than any athlete who’s ever played the game about the things that he put into his body.
“He’s that smart. And anybody who reads this book will quickly see that this guy is not some freak show. That he studied the stuff. He paid attention to it. And in almost every instance, with the exception of THG, he knew exactly what he was putting in his body.”
What is also surprising about the book is Romanowski’s generosity. For all of his all-consuming concerns about getting an “edge” on the field, , his legion of professional experts and his supplements with any willing teammate — often at his own expense. His co-author learned of this generosity first-hand.
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ROMO AUDIO
“THE PAIN OF THE GAME” |
| Listen to ex-Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski talk about THG, BALCO and more on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which aired Sunday night.(mp3) |
“He wanted me to try live cell therapy,” said Schefter. “He wanted me to take cow pancreas and squish it under my tongue. And I said, ‘No, Romo, that’s really kind of you. Thanks again for your graciousness. But no, thank you.'”
This “graciousness” extended to the book when Romanowski insisted on including Phil Towle, a performance coach who he met through Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn. Towle worked his way onto the byline by reworking the foreword and adding a postscript.
“What I did?” said Schefter, “Everything from the day he’s born to the day he makes his last NFL tackle is all mine.”
In between are some wonderful nuggets for longtime Broncos fans. How did Romanowski land in Denver? How did he help John Elway overcome a career-threatening injury? How did Broncos coach Mike Shanahan ask Romanowski to take a pay cut?
Told by one who covered his position with unparalleled intensity, penned by one who likewise covered his beat, “Romo: My Life on the Edge” tackles such matters in what amounts to a visceral experience. You’ll wince, moan and cringe — not unlike quarterbacks who lined up opposite Romanowski.
With an assist from a former Post scribe, Romanowski has moved from cracking jaws to merely dropping them.
An online exclusive that runs each Friday, Wide State of Sports examines the memorable, less visible and lighthearted aspects from the High Plains to the Western Slope. DenverPost.com sports producer Bryan Boyle can be reached at bboyle@denverpost.com.
From the columns
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From the mailbags
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From the message boards
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From the online exclusives
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A look back
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| Special / Reed Hoffmann |
| , sacking Trent Green in December 2001, reveals he used the designer steroid THG in his final season with Denver in “Romo: My Life on the Edge.” The book was co-authored by former Denver Post reporter Adam Schefter. |
