Eastern alumnus and current Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo headlined the fourth installment of the Athletic Director’s Gala Tuesday in Effingham.

Romo, who was competing alongside Tiger Woods in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament just days before, found himself not in the sunny state of California, but in a cold, gloomy Effingham.

“This morning, I think we took a look at the weather while we were packing, and it was the first question from the wife, ‘What’s the weather going to be like?’ and I was like, ‘I’m sure it’s not going to be that bad,'” Romo said.

Romo, who married his wife Candice Crawford in May of 2011, said his wife had never been to Charleston.

“She’s from Dallas, originally, so she always likes to see snow whenever she can,” he said.

Romo said he had no hard feelings about spending his first Valentine’s Day with his wife in the not-so-romantic Effingham.

“I tried celebrating last night. I think I got away with it,” he said.

Romo said he enjoyed his return to Eastern because it allowed him to reminisce and show his wife the place where he spent part of his life.

“She’s never been to Eastern before, so we took a stroll through memory lane and Charleston,” he said. “I kind of just pointed out a few things over the years, where I lived and the football place, and went and said hi to the staff.”

With his busy schedule, Romo doesn’t get to return to Charleston too often, but enjoys the time he does get.

“It’s kind of neat just to be up there and see the places that you’ve been, and it’s kind of neat to reflect a little bit,” he said.

Romo said he also likes being able to give back to the university and support a good cause with the gala, where proceeds go toward scholarships for Eastern student athletes.

“We’re here for a good cause, trying to raise money for the university,” he said. “It’s a very rewarding thing to be back.”

Romo said he has taken a lot of what he learned at Eastern with him to the professional level, especially things he learned from former head coach Bob Spoo, who is also being honored at the gala, and newly named director of football operations, Roy Wittke. Wittke served as offensive coordinator while Romo played for the Panthers.

“I worked directly with Roy Wittke, Coach Spoo was kind of the overseer,” he said. “A couple of things I took was their detail and organizational skills. It was really second to none, even to this day. I think that allowed them to have the success they had.”

Romo said he attributes a lot of what he learned at Eastern to Spoo and Wittke.

“I learned a lot while I was here. I learned a lot about what it took to get better, what it took to be a student athlete and how to go about the process of that,” he said. “I owe a lot of that to Coach Spoo and Coach Wittke.”

With Spoo retired, and Wittke out of the coaches booth and into the front office, Romo said he sees the future of the program going in the right direction with new head coach Dino Babers.

” I think (the program is) going to be in good hands. (Babers is) coming from a great system, they do a lot of good things,” he said. “It’ll be fun to watch for the fans, and I think he’ll be able to communicate very well with his players.”

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7942 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.