As we reported yesterday, Tony Romo has been linked to another woman named Natalie Smith almost immediately after he broke up with Jessica Simpson.
But Smith’s father is quick to shoot down reports that they’re involved.
“His breakup brought all these rumors that are not true,” says John Smith, Associate Athletic Director at Romo’s alma mater, Eastern Illinois University.
He admits that Tony Romo and Natalie Smith met up for lunch in Dallas last week, but says his entire family – including his wife and three daughters – have “always been friends” with the Cowboys quarterback since he was in college.
“Natalie feels so bad,” adds her dad.
“Just being friends with Tony has now disrupted everyone [from] talking about Tony and football and are instead talking about Tony and all of this.”
With reports about his love life like this surfacing regularly, the newly-single (or not) Dallas Cowboys quarterback is set to report to training camp this week.
“What is funny about all this is that if Tony hadn’t broken up with Jessica, nothing would ever have been written about him having lunch with Natalie,” adds her dad.
Simpson, meanwhile, has started hitting the town in Los Angeles after keeping a low profile for the first few weeks after getting dumped and locked out by Romo.
She joined a large group of friends and family – including her parents Joe and Tina – at Katana’s Red Sun BBQ on July 26 for a belated birthday celebration.
The next day, the singer arrived at West Hollywood’s House of Pascal Mouawad for a CD release party for Candy Shop by An-Ya, an artist on her dad’s label.
“She was in high spirits, joking, laughing, meeting people,” says a Jessica Simpson source. “You wouldn’t even know she was upset about a breakup.”
Natalie Smith’s father says she’s not the “other woman.”