SEATTLE (AP) - Nearly seven years have passed, yet Tony Romo still can't escape the moment.

For all he's done to prove himself as an elite NFL quarterback, the image of Romo bobbling the snap on a short field goal attempt late in a 2006 NFC playoff game against Seattle and costing the Cowboys a win continues to linger.

"Man, that was obviously a devastating play," Cowboys tight end Jason Witten recalled. "I don't know that you can ever forget that one but it has been a long time. And I do think a lot of what happened that year, the following year shapes what you have, forms you for those moments now.

"Every player in this league that has any success, they look back at experiences of what allow them to get to this point. For Tony, for all of us, that's a play, a season, we'll always remember. Hopefully, we're better because of those situations."

That one flub in the infancy of Romo's career as the starting quarterback in Dallas becomes a fresh memory and part of the conversation this week with the Cowboys (1-0) making their first visit to Seattle since that playoff game to face the Seahawks (0-1) today.

Short of taking Dallas to the Super Bowl, Romo's done plenty since that first playoff game of his career. He's considered among the NFL's top quarterbacks. He's brought Dallas a pair of division titles. He even got rid of Dallas' decade-plus playoff victory drought with a wild-card round win in 2009.

But until Romo brings the Cowboys a championship, his blunder in Seattle will remain a piece of his history few forget.

"I think that's just one of those situations where you took it as it was, a disappointing loss, which was very tough at the time. What you do is you get better. You go back to work, put your head down and you get better," Romo said. "There have been different times and situations in your career as an athlete that you can look at those spots and you can say you took things as motivation and it's helped you a lot."

The moment seemed so simple for Romo on that January night in early 2007. With his team trailing 21-20, Romo drove the Cowboys from their 28 to the Seattle 2, and faced fourth-and-1 with 1:19 remaining. What was left was an easy field goal for Martin Gramatica and a trip to the second round of the playoffs.

The snap was fine. Romo just simply dropped it as he put the ball into position. He quickly picked it up and seemed on his way to running for a touchdown, only to be tripped up from behind by Jordan Babineaux short of a first down and the end zone.

"It was just surreal and at the time, it didn't really soak in until you had a chance to recognize the consequences of it," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said.