In an interview with WFFA Channel 8’s Joe Trahan, Cowboys’ cornerback Terence Newman said that Tony Romo’s relationship with Jessica Simpson has affected his ability to be a successful quarterback.

WFFA Ch. 8’s Joe Trahan asked Newman last week about Troy Aikman’s take that Romo “hasn’t fully grasped what being the Cowboys quarterback is all about.”

Newman’s reply: “I think that with the situation Tony was in, I think that kind of maybe hurt him a little bit – being a first-year starter, then you have the limelight with his girlfriend and situations of that nature. It’s going to take away from him being a quarterback, being a successful quarterback. He won 13 games and everything was perfect, but now after this past season, it was, ‘Is he doing enough for the team? Is he working hard enough? You know, he’s got this girlfriend, so …’ I think that once he inherited the starting quarterback job and his relationship got into the national media attention, I think that that was something that definitely hurt and took away from Tony Romo being a great quarterback.”

While I don’t disagree with what Newman said (how can I – I’m not a Cowboy and thus don’t know the situation like he does), players have every right to have a personal life off the field. It doesn’t matter if Romo is dating Jessica Simpson or Jessica Nobody – his personal business is his own.

That said, this is at least the third time that Romo has been publicly criticized for his relationship with Simpson. He was hammered by the media for going on vacation with her during the Cowboys’ bye week before a playoff game two years ago, and then came Aikman’s comments, now Newman is speaking out. So maybe Romo does need to be more focused on his football responsibilities. This isn’t to say that he needs to spend every waking hour dedicated to being a quarterback, but obviously there is an issue here because this story won’t die.