Bill Romanowski

Romanowski in 2006
No. 53
Position	Linebacker
Personal information
Born	(1966-04-02)April 2, 1966 (age 59) Vernon, Connecticut, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school	Rockville (CT)
College	Boston College (1984–1987)
NFL draft	1988: 3rd round, 80th overall pick
Career history
San Francisco 49ers (1988–1993) Philadelphia Eagles (1994–1995) Denver Broncos (1996–2001) Oakland Raiders (2002–2003)
Awards and highlights
4×Super Bowl champion (XXIII,XXIV,XXXII,XXXIII) 2×Pro Bowl (1996,1998) PFWA All-Rookie Team (1988) Second-teamAll-American (1987) 3× First-team All-East (1985,1986,1987)
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles 1,118 Sacks 39.5 Forcedfumbles 16 Fumble recoveries 18 Interceptions 18 Defensivetouchdowns 1 Stats atPro Football Reference

William Thomas Romanowski (born April 2, 1966) is an American formerfootballlinebacker who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. Nicknamed "Romo" and "RomoCop",^[1] he spent the majority of his career with theSan Francisco 49ers andDenver Broncos.

Romanowski playedcollege football for theBoston College Eagles, receiving second-teamAll-American honors in 1987, and was selected by the 49ers in the third round of the1988 NFL draft. He played six seasons each in San Francisco and Denver. Romanowski was also a member of thePhiladelphia Eagles andOakland Raiders for two seasons each. At the time of his retirement, Romanowski won fourSuper Bowl titles, two each with the 49ers and Broncos, and twice receivedPro Bowl honors during his Broncos tenure. He also led a controversial career due to often engaging in unsportsmanlike behavior, which resulted in altercations with opponents and teammates.

Romanowski was born inVernon,Connecticut. He graduated fromRockville High School in 1984 andBoston College in 1988 with academic honors, and was a Scanlan Award recipient.

Romanowski went on to a 16-year career in theNFL, playing for theSan Francisco 49ers (1988–1993),Philadelphia Eagles (1994–1995),Denver Broncos (1996–2001), andOakland Raiders (2002–2003). After his career, he was listed byESPN as the fifth dirtiest player in professional team sports history.^[3]

Romanowski played243 consecutive games during the 1988–2003 seasons,^[4] an NFL record that stood untilChris Gardocki broke it during the 2006 season, finishing his career with 265, (256 regular season and nine playoff games). He won fourSuper Bowl Championships, and played in five Super Bowls (Super Bowl XXIII,Super Bowl XXIV,Super Bowl XXXII,Super Bowl XXXIII andSuper Bowl XXXVII). His only loss was in the last of these.

During his 16-year career, Romanowski compiled 1,105 tackles, 39.5 sacks, 18 forced fumbles, and 18 interceptions, which he returned for a net total of 98 yards and one career touchdown. Romanowski was aPro Bowl selection twice, in 1996 and 1998, both during his tenure with the Denver Broncos.

Romanowski was involved in numerous altercations with both teammates and opponents. In 1995, while with the Eagles, he was ejected from a game — and subsequently fined $4,500 — for kickingArizona Cardinals fullbackLarry Centers in the head.^[5]

Two more incidents occurred during the 1997 season while he played for the Broncos. In the first, he was fined $20,000 after a helmet-to-helmet hit onCarolina Panthers quarterbackKerry Collins in a preseason game resulting in Collins sustaining a broken jaw.^[3]

In the second incident, Romanowski spat in the face of 49ers wide receiverJ. J. Stokes in a regular-season game played in December on aMonday night in response to Stokes' taunting.^[6]

Two years later, while still with the Broncos, he was fined a total of $42,500 for three illegal hits plus a punch thrown atKansas City Chiefs tight endTony Gonzalez, and was also fined an undisclosed amount for throwing a football atBryan Cox of theNew York Jets, the ball hitting him in thecrotch area.^[7]

In 2003, Romanowski attacked and injured one of his teammates, tight endMarcus Williams, during a scrimmage. Williams was forced to retire after Romanowski crushed his eye socket with the punch.^[8]

Williams sued for damages of $3.4 million, arguing that Romanowski had been suffering from "roid rage" when he attacked him. Williams was awarded $340,000 for lost wages and medical expenses by a jury.^[9] Williams was quoted as saying he and his lawyers "just wanted to prove what was right and wrong about football".^[10] Williams' attorney said he was very pleased with the verdict.^[9]

Romanowski has been accused of being racist at many points during his career and after retirement. Various media critics have pointed to his fines for actions including kickingLarry Centers in the head in 1995, spitting on San Francisco 49er receiverJ.J. Stokes in 1997, and ripping Eddie George's helmet off in 2002, as evidence.^[11][12][13]

Romanowski calledCarolina Panthers starting quarterbackCam Newton "boy" in a tweet after Newton's team lost inSuper Bowl 50 and Newton conducted a very brief press interview.^[14] He later apologized after he was accused of being racist.^[14][15]

Romanowski co-authored an autobiography in 2005 titledRomo My Life on the Edge: Living Dreams and Slaying Dragons. The book became aNew York Times best-selling book in 2005.^[16] It chronicles his childhood, college career, NFL career, living with post-concussion symptoms, nutrition, and recovery techniques used during his NFL playing career.

He was featured on the cover of the Midway Games titleBlitz: The League and adds his voice as Bruno Battaglia, a linebacker in the game who wears his 53. He also appears in NCAA Football Series indirectly as LB #53 for the 1984 Boston College Eagles.

In 2006, he founded Nutrition53, a nutritional supplement company. He was also a minority owner ofNASCAR'sSwan Racing in 2013; Nutrition53 sponsored the team in 10 races that year.^[17]

In 2024 Romanowski and his wife declared bankruptcy after being sued by the I.R.S. for more than $15 million in unpaid back taxes.^[18][19]

In 2008, Romanowski was the defensive coordinator for the Piedmont High School (California) Highlanders Freshman Football team, where his son played.

In January 2009, Romanowski threw his name into the search forMike Shanahan's replacement as the head coach of theDenver Broncos. Romanowski sent a 30-pagePowerPoint presentation to team ownerPat Bowlen, but was not considered for the job.^[20] The job was ultimately given toJosh McDaniels.^[20]

Romanowski and his wife were investigated for prescription drug fraud, though the charges were later dropped.^[21] Records seized by the government belonging to theBay Area Laboratory Co-operative, later discovered to be the source of a designer steroid, indicate that he had used theanabolic steroid "The Clear" andsynthetic testosterone ointment "The Cream" provided by BALCO since 2003. Romanowski admitted to staying a step ahead of NFL drug testing policies.^[22] In an October 16, 2005 appearance on60 Minutes, Romanowski admitted to using steroids and human growth hormone that he received fromVictor Conte, BALCO owner.^[23]

• Career statistics fromNFL.com · ESPN · CBS Sports · Yahoo Sports · Sports Illustrated · Pro Football Reference
• Bill Romanowski atIMDb

• 1966 births
• Living people
• People from Vernon, Connecticut
• American Conference Pro Bowl players
• American football linebackers
• Boston College Eagles football players
• Denver Broncos players
• Doping cases in American football
• American sportspeople in doping cases
• Oakland Raiders players
• Sportspeople from Piedmont, California
• Players of American football from Alameda County, California
• People from Rockville, Connecticut
• Sportspeople from Tolland County, Connecticut
• Philadelphia Eagles players
• Violence in sports
• San Francisco 49ers players
• American people of Polish descent
• Players of American football from Connecticut

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