ADDISON, Texas — Tony Romo isn't the only Cowboys quarterback to suffer a broken pinkie on his throwing hand.

Hall of Famer Roger Staubach played with a broken pinkie during the 1976 season.

Staubach was off to one of his best seasons ever with nine touchdown passes and three interceptions in leading the Cowboys to a 5-1 start. But in a victory over Chicago on Oct. 24, he suffered a broken bone in the lower part of his pinkie.

Instead of allowing the injury to heal, as Romo did, Staubach continued to play.

"If you look at that season, I personally was off to a great start throwing the football," Staubach said Thursday. "It actually affected me the second half of the year. Having Tony get it healed is the right thing."

In the second half of the season, Staubach threw four touchdown passes and eight interceptions. He threw five interceptions combined against Atlanta and St. Louis. Staubach also had 200 or more passing yards twice and fewer than 100 yards passing twice in the last seven weeks of the season.

The Cowboys finished the second half of the 1976 season 5-2 for an 11-3 overall record but lost in an NFC divisional playoff to Los Angeles.

"I was trying to play through it, and my arm got sore all the way up to my shoulder," Staubach said. "We had a decent season, but I was not the same the second half of the year throwing the football. It just depends on how you want to deal with it."

Staubach's pinkie used to protrude away from his hand, but doctors later inserted a plastic joint in the finger to make it stick straight up. But there is a large lump in his second knuckle.

"Toward the end of the year, I couldn't throw in practice for a number of days," Staubach said. "You're throwing it differently, and you're using different muscles. Unfortunately it's an injury you can play with, but you shouldn't play."

Romo, who missed the last three games, is expected to start next week at Washington.