07.13.09 TONY ROMO AND JESSICA SIMPSON BROKE UP

The Dallas Cowboys quarterback broke up with his overweight pop star girlfriend last week, as reported by People.com (thanks, Andy). Romo allegedly called the whole thing off on Thursday, the day before Jessica’s 29th birthday.

“She is heartbroken,” says the source. “She loves Tony. But it’s been difficult lately. He’s busy with his career and she’s getting ready to shoot her show (The Price of Beauty). They decided to part ways.”

The Dallas Cowboys quarterback fueled breakup rumors when he showed up with about 14 friends at the Hollywood hotspot MyHouse on Friday night without the birthday girl, a source tells PEOPLE.

Despite what some people might say, the best time to break up with a girl is right before her birthday. Especially if she’s one of those people that acts like you two are “on a break” or “having issues” or whatever. Some women use the breakup as a wake-up call, so “breaking up” isn’t exactly a genuine split to them. But if you rip the heart out of her chest right before a supposedly big day for her, the message is a lot more clear. Plus she usually cries, and if you’re severing ties with someone whom you’ve invested in emotionally, that’s always nice. You know, after the fact.

And for guys, it’s easy to kind of chug along in a crappy arrangement for a while, pretending things are okay in hopes that they eventually do improve. But when birthdays come up and she expects you to be all bubbly and happy and all that crap, it just makes sense to jump off there. Sure, a woman can fake an orgasm, but only a guy can fake an entire relationship.