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Hall of Fame
Schaub's star on the rise but quietly
Tony Romo and Matt Schaub.
One quarterbacks America's team, the other a team much of America knows little about. One has dated women who landed him in the National Enquirer and on Entertainment Tonight. The other is married to his longtime sweetheart.
One dons an assortment of cool lids as if he owns a hat company; the other isn't ashamed to go with the goofy Gomer-Pyle-just-enlisted coif he is sporting.
Don't ask paparazzi. Image is something, but not everything.
If you do a Google Image search, you get an unscientific but telling look at the dramatically different styles of the opposing quarterbacks who will take the field Sunday at Reliant Stadium.
There are 19 pictures on the first page of the Schaub results. Thirteen of them are game action, and the only picture of the Texans quarterback out of uniform is the one of him at the news conference where the team announced it acquired him three years ago.
Heck, one picture isn't even of Schaub. It's of El Ocho Viejo.
The results from a search for Romo pictures are strikingly different. Romo is wearing a helmet in only one of the Page 1 pictures.
Photos of the Cowboys quarterback range from him kissing Jessica Simpson to posing on the red carpet at the Country Music Awards with Carrie Underwood.
One guy is a quarterback. The other is a quarterback and a celebrity.
On the field, Schaub is every bit the star quarterback Romo is, though much of the world doesn't know it.
Schaub just isn't one for the Hollywood party scene. He has never been anywhere near a red carpet never even been to Hollywood, he says and he isn't interested in dancing with, being seen with, or doing anything else with the stars.
"That's just not me," Schaub said.
That doesn't mean Schaub is a dud. The 29-year-old Pennsylvanian will hit Las Vegas during the offseason.
But Modest Matt takes his wife with him and blends in at a regular blackjack table, no private table in the high rollers' section or setups in VIP rooms at the hottest nightclubs.
Schaub, who led the NFL in passing yards last season, could have those perks of an NFL quarterback should he so choose, but it is just not his style.
"I've never really wanted that," Schaub said. "For me, this has always been about being part of something special, being part of a team and working to accomplish something. Football is the ultimate team sport. It takes all 11 guys to get it done on a play. What other sport is like that?"
Do the right thing
Schaub knows a little about other team sports. He was a three-sport star at West Chester East High School outside Philadelphia, where he used to show up at school at 6 a.m. during football season to work on his jump shot. He did the same during basketball season, to work on his pitching motion.
Schaub doesn't just say all the right things. He has always been recognized as a guy who strived to do the right thing.
"If my three boys grow up to be like him, I'll be one of the proudest men in the world," Schaub's high school basketball coach Eric Anderson told the Philadelphia Enquirer when the paper named Schaub the Chester County athlete of the year in 1999.
"That was definitely flattering to hear because that goes above and beyond football or basketball or sports; that's life, your character, the type of person that you are," Schaub said. "That's who I am and will always be. That type of person."
Schaub isn't as even keel as he usually appears. No one with a pulse is that cool. He is a leader who sets the tone for one of the league's best offenses.
"He's a funny guy, he jokes around a lot and he's very loose," Texans backup quarterback Matt Leinart said. "You can see in how he prepares and how he plays that he takes everything very seriously, but at the same time he also is loose and can joke with the guys. But when it's ball time, it's ball time."
And though he doesn't want the extras, this might be Schaub's time to step up a level into NFL superstardom.
Victories this season over Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb, two veteran star quarterbacks who had big passing days, have put Schaub in position to make another move upward.
"At the quarterback position, you're judged on wins and losses," Romo said. "Really, at the end of the day that's what it comes down to."
At bottom line: Wins
Even with Dallas' 0-2 start, Romo's regular-season record as a starter (38-19) is fifth best among active quarterbacks, behind Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger and Manning.
Schaub needed the Texans' two opening wins to get to .500 as a starter (21-21), which pulls him even with the likes of David Garrard, Todd Collins and Sage Rosenfels. He agrees with Romo that the bottom line is the bottom line.
"As quarterbacks, we're judged by wins and losses. Obviously other things go into that, but ultimately you're judged by if you get your team a 'W' at the end of the day," Schaub said.
And with a "W" at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if paparazzi follow you around or not.
jerome.solomon@chron.com
