Earlier this week, Tony Romo made an emotional speech to the media, conceding the starting QB spot to Dak Prescott. Romo demonstrated humility and selflessness, and the video went viral. But, as he noted in the speech, people shouldn't doubt his competitive drive for a second.

Prior to this concession, Romo made a last-ditch attempt to get back his old job, even asking directly for the opportunity. From Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer:

Last week, finally healthy, Tony Romo expressed to the Cowboys brass a desire to fight for the job he now could acknowledge wouldn’t be just handed back to him.

And then, he went out and backed it up by having as good a week as possible piloting a scout team. According to those there, 100 percent is selling it short. “He looked like (Ben) Roethlisberger,” is how one Dallas source illustrated the Pittsburgh look Romo gave the Dallas defense in practice.

With the Prescott-led Cowboys sitting at 8-1 (the best record in the NFL), there really wasn't a chance for Romo to start. But, given Jerry Jones and his family's strong relationship with Tony, they weren't ready to acknowledge it until he was completely cleared to play.

More from Breer:

When I told Stephen Jones, the Cowboys chief operating officer, I’d heard Romo privately asked for the chance to wrest the job back, Jones acknowledged that with deference.

“Tony’s smart,” Jones said, from his cell in the middle of his Wednesday workday. “He’s very bright. And so when he came out and said it, in the end, I don’t think it took him long to figure that wouldn’t be a great thing for the team. We’ve got a good thing, and no one wants Dak looking over his shoulder.”

The Cowboys have tweaked their practices this week to allow Romo to have more snaps with the first team offense. But, that's really the only thing changing, and Stephen Jones believes Romo understands that:

“I think he understands that,” Jones said. “As a competitor, does he want it? Yes. He wouldn’t be in the NFL if he didn’t have that burning in his belly. He’s dying to get out there. And we talked all offseason, he’s never been this fired up about a team, he couldn’t wait. And now to see it work like he thought it would, and the team doing something special, and to want back in, that’s not selfish. It’s just hard. He’s tremendously unselfish, because he understands it.”

Eventually, he changed the subject to Dak, whose future in Dallas appears to be quite bright:

“We’ve got supreme confidence that Dak is our future,” Jones said. “We’ve just seen too much. And you may say, ‘Well, it’s only been nine games.’ No, it’s the full body of work. And it’s not just on the field, it’s off the field too. It’s how he handles every situation—bringing us back down two scores in San Francisco; last week, he leads the game-winning drive twice in Pittsburgh; coming back against Philly.

“He keeps checking every box.”