New Delhi, Aug. 2 -- MILWAUKEE - Jerry Jones wasn't calling a play. He was making a character reference.

The Dallas Cowboys owner, whose relationship with Tony Romo dates back nearly two decades, went on record this week to defend the quarterback-turned-broadcaster who faces an operating-while-intoxicated charge in Milwaukee and an indefinite leave from the booth he spent the better part of a decade turning into must-watch television. "Do you think Tony Romo knows how to get up when he gets knocked down?" Jones told Dallas station KDFW Fox 4. "I love him. I love what he's about. I love his character."

It was a striking public defense of a man whose career at CBS Sports is now officially in suspension, though nobody at the network has sa...