FRISCO, Texas -- Now that it is ending, the memories fly by like the trees when you’re driving on the highway.

Tony Romo's time with the Dallas Cowboys will end Thursday after 14 years with the franchise, according to sources, and he will be allowed to chase the only thing he has left to chase with another team, if he so chooses: a Super Bowl. In the history of the franchise, only three players (Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Bill Bates and Mark Tuinei) had a longer tenure.

The Cowboys have put their faith in Dak Prescott, who displayed an ability rarely seen from a rookie quarterback in 2016 in leading them to a 13-3 record.

This roster move was inevitable, and you had the sense Romo knew it when he made his emotional speech upon his comeback this past fall.

But now that his time with the Cowboys is over, the emotions of the years hit you, from his first start in 2006 to his final touchdown pass in the 2016 season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles.

People see what they want to see with Romo.

If you judge everything based off championships, then his time with the Cowboys was less than fulfilling. He had to be Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman and win Super Bowls to earn your adoration. You scoff that he’s Danny White, as if that is a bad thing.

If you judge things off the process, then his story should be as uplifting as anything that Dallas, or the NFL, has seen. In 2003, he was an afterthought as an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Illinois, the fourth in a quarterback competition with Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson and Clint Stoerner. In 2004, Carter’s release in training camp could have saved his roster spot because the Cowboys had just signed Vinny Testaverde and added Drew Henson.

His story exploded in 2006, when he took over for Drew Bledsoe. For the next decade, he was the Cowboys’ best hope for their sixth championship. There was Romo-mentum and Romo-mania. He had the comeback wins and the devastating losses. He dazzled with his improvisation and confounded with some decisions.

He played hurt when others wouldn’t; for example, through a punctured lung and broken rib for weeks in 2011 and 2013. With searing pain down his legs from a bulging disk that would require surgery five days later, he beat the Washington Redskins with a fourth-down touchdown pass.

It wasn’t just his football success that drew people to Romo.

He related to many, as the Burlington, Wisconsin, kid who made it big and remained true to his roots. He took a homeless man to a movie. Coming home from a game one night, he helped change the tire for a couple in need along the highway. He donated $1 million to a national school initiative. Quietly, he did things nobody ever knew about because he didn’t want anybody else to know about them.

You never want to feel bad for a person who has made more money in a lifetime than is imaginable, has a wonderful wife and family and can do what he wants for the rest of his life, but there should be empathy for what happened to him in 2016.

Romo felt like it was going to be the best year of his career. He said it over and over in the offseason. After being limited to four games in 2015 because of collarbone injuries, Romo’s twice-repaired back felt as good as it had in years. A surgery cleared up the collarbone issue. He felt like his physical ability and mental capacity were matched in a way that he knew the answers to the test before the defense could ask a question.

And then on Aug. 25, 2016, on the third play from scrimmage of a preseason game at Seattle, he suffered a compression fracture in his back on a sack. He would play just seven snaps -- one drive -- in the regular season because the coaches did not want to mess up a good thing with how well Prescott played.

Romo could have sulked and complained, but didn’t. Was he happy? No, but he didn’t let that affect the team. Throughout the season, he had teammates to his house for parties. At the weekly steak dinners at Nick & Sam’s, he played the deejay.

Sure, he was disappointed, but he hid it well.

Now he'll be off to another spot, maybe Denver, maybe Houston, maybe somewhere nobody ever imagined, chasing that Super Bowl. Maybe he will be as lucky as DeMarcus Ware, who won a ring with the Broncos in 2015. Maybe he will ultimately walk away from the game.

He never reached the pinnacle with the Cowboys, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. He put everything into it and got everything he could out of it.

As those memories go flying by, remember how exciting he made the ride.