Dan Campbell had already established himself as a veteran tight end in the NFL before joining the Dallas Cowboys during the 2003 season. At the same time, Dallas had just signed quarterback Tony Romo as an undrafted free agent. While everyone in the locker room liked Romo, including Campbell, that didn’t stop the Detroit Lions head coach from pulling a prank on the rookie.
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Campbell put a cigarette on Romo’s hand, as the former Cowboys quarterback recently shared.
“He (Campbell) is sitting there, and he’s randomly smoking a cig one night, and he’s like, ‘I’ll tell you one thing, Romo, come here.’ And he goes, struck in my hand. And I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ He goes, ‘isn’t that funny?'” Romo said during his recent appearance on Pardon My Take.
Now, Dan Campbell recently stopped by the St. Brown Podcast, where his wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown asked whether Romo’s story is true. Campbell, meanwhile, acknowledged that every word of Romo’s story is true, as the Lions’ head coach shared his side of the story.
“It’s a true story,” said Campbell. “Romo was a pup. I got there in 2003. He was a rookie free agent. And everybody liked Romo. I liked Romo. And so Romo went, ‘Hey man, where are you guys going tonight? What are you doing?’ And we go out one night. He’s over there talking to somebody. I don’t know what. So I’m like, ‘Hey, come here! I got something for you. And I put it (cigarette) out. I didn’t put it out. I put it on him. Just don’t ask me why. So, I gave him a little singe.”
After spending the first four seasons with the New York Giants, Dan Campbell had joined the Cowboys ahead of the 2003 season. When Romo joined the Cowboys, Campbell was already an established tight end in the league and a locker room leader when he pranked the rookie.
Dallas sportswriter Bob Sturm first revealed the incident after discussing it with Campbell on his radio show. At that time, however, the Lions head coach jokingly denied Romo’s allegations, as he said:
“He is talking about Dan Camel. Not Dan Campbell.”
Now, however, Campbell has acknowledged Romo’s story while also admitting that he put the cigarette on his palm to make Romo feel better afterwards.
“Just to make him feel better, he didn’t mention that I put it out in the palm of my hand after I did that,” Campbell added. “So, it’s not like he’s paying. I’m paying, too, alright. Now, he didn’t want to pay. He shouldn’t have had to pay.”
When St. Brown further asked whether Coach Campbell put a cigarette out on someone’s hand on other occasions as well, the head coach simply admitted, “I’ve done that a couple of times.”
That said, Romo went on to establish a strong NFL career with the Cowboys. Dan Campbell, meanwhile, started coaching following his NFL career. Now, the 50-year-old head coach is all set to start his sixth season as the Lions’ head coach.