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Eastern Illinois Athletics wrapped up its 20th year as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference in May.  As a way to celebrate the many accomplishments, both team and individual during that time period, EIU conducted an online poll during the month of May for fans to help select the Top 20 athletes of the Panthers OVC Era.  During the month of June we will unveil the top 20 athletes as selected by the more than 2,500 fan votes submitted.  The original list of 40 athletes was comprised by a committee looking at a variety of criteria including Player of the Year, All-American selection and multiple time first-team All-OVC honors.  
 
#1  Tony Romo (1999-2002)
 
Romo is the player most associated with Eastern Illinois Athletics and in some cases the OVC as a whole.  He shined on the football field for the Panthers leading the team to three straight FCS playoff appearances between 2000-02 as the team's starting quarterback.  He saw limited action as redshirt freshman in 1999 but as the Panthers starter Romo led the team to 25 wins in three years including a number two national ranking in 2002.   He was named the OVC Player of the Year all three seasons as EIU went 17-2 in the league with Romo at the helm.  He is the only player in OVC history to be named the player of the year three times in football.  Romo became the Panthers first winner of the Walter Payton Award in 2002 after finishing 10th (2001) and 11th (2000) in the voting as a sophomore and junior.  He was a three time All-American earning consensus first team honors as a senior.  Romo captained an efficient offense as he finished his career ranked first in passing efficiency at EIU with a 157.5 rating, a number that ranks ninth all-time in the FCS.  At the time of his graduation he was the school and OVC leader in career touchdown passes.   Romo continues to rank among the elite quarterbacks at EIU in statistics ranking second in career touchdowns (85), third in career total offense (8,059) and third in career passing yards (8,212).
 
Romo was inducted into the EIU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 and had his number 17 retired on Oct. 17, 2009 to become one of only eight EIU Athletes to ever have a number retired by the University.   He was an undrafted free agent signee with the Dallas Cowboys that has gone on to have a Pro Bowl career as the team's starting quarterback.