The rise and fall of Tony Romo as an announcer must be studied. The former Dallas Cowboys superstar QB rose from obscurity to become an All-Pro player on one of the most famous sports franchises in America. The Cowboys signed Romo as an undrafted free agent in 2003. In 13 seasons, he put up 34,183 yards and 248 TDs passing. He did, however, fall short of bringing them a Super Bowl.
Tony Romo Arrested For OWI
With his broadcast career losing steam as far as his ranking among the game’s top analysts, the retired Dallas Cowboys star was arrested on July 23 on charges of allegedly operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Milwaukee County deputies arrested Romo, just hours after he played in the Wisconsin Amateur Championship, a golf event. He was issued a citation for refusing to take a field sobriety test and faces a court date on Sept. 21, which falls during CBS’ Week 2 NFL slate.
This recent legal trouble has raised questions about his future as an analyst for CBS.
CBS Could Use Tony Romo Arrest To Get Out From Under $180M Contract: Dan Le Batard Weighs In
On Monday, sports talking head Dan Le Batard discussed this situation on his podcast. According to the former ESPN star, CBS could use this situation as an opportunity to cut ties with Romo, similarly to how Fox did with Mark Sanchez last year when lost a drunken brawl to a senior citizen.
“Given that his employers had to stage what was called an intervention to get him to work harder,” Batard said on his show as per Barrett Media. “Now you have an incident like this that doesn’t have the kind of shame that would end someone like Mark Sanchez’s career. It has a shame involved that if you were looking for a reason to get rid of somebody, this kind of publicity is enough.”
Back in October, Sanchez got smashed and then instigated an embarrassing ass-kicking in Indianapolis with a 69-year-old garbage disposal worker that led to the former Jets star being stabbed, rushed to the hospital and then charged with an initial misdemeanor battery charge that was eventually upgraded to a felony after the new evidence was introduced.
In November, Fox confirmed that they fired Sanchez.
Tony Romo Was An Immediate Star With CBS
Romo is in danger of facing a similar fate.
Right after he finished his NFL career, Romo went straight into the CBS Sports lead analyst chair in 2017 with no prior broadcasting experience.Romo quickly became a star and fan favorite alongside legend Jim Nantz, predicting play calls and formations and audibles before the center snaps the pigskin.
It was a great story of Romo punching above his weight as he often did as he rose to superstardom with the Cowboys. Tony Romo signed a historic 10-year, $180 million contract extension with CBS Sports in February 2020, paying him roughly $17 million to $18 million annually as the network’s lead NFL analyst.
With huge dollars came more scrutiny from fans and more criticism about his overall performance. His reputation as an elite broadcaster began to take a hit on social media and the local sports shows. The pressure got worse and according to the public, so did Romo’s performance.
Fans Suggest Romo’s Drinking Played Part In His Decline As Broadcaster
After word of his drinking and driving hit the media, fans started putting two and two together.
“knew he was an alcoholic… he was drunk as sh-t slurring his words at the jaguars vs bills game in the playoffs. He just kept saying sh-t that didn’t make sense either,” one fan surmised in the comments.
“Another rich idiot like Tiger woods who should always have a driver for any occasion. Now his nice comfortable job is in question,” another unforgiving netizen said.
“He needs to lose his announcer job. All the money in the world and too selfish to hire an uber to avoid killing someone’s kids driving drunk. We should have zero tolerance for this from celebrities,” another commented.
When Did The Public Turn On Tony Romo As Announcer?
In 2021, Romo’s accurate play predictions and technical breakdowns turned into average commentary with no special insight. Romo’s supposed decline reportedly became so obvious that CBS executives had a sit-down with Romo in the offseason in an attempt to recapture the magic.
He was awarded the Super Bowl LVIII (February 2024) and again faced widespread criticism on social media demeaning his performance, with some saying he “choked” during the broadcast, missing big moments. At points he even rambled.
Since then everyone has been nitpicking, and if not for his $180M contract that locks him in until 2030, Romo probably would have been demoted. This latest mishap gives the channel an opening to promote JJ Watt or another popular new jack with the network.
Will Romo Survive This?
On Monday, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand criticized the former Cowboys star for his actions, he also took a jab at his broadcasting career.
“I think it’s one of the most selfish things you can do, drinking and driving,” Marchand said. “He’ll have a chance to prove his innocence, innocent until proven guilty, but that’s an awful job by Tony Romo.”
“Getting to the on-air stuff, he hasn’t been good for a long time. CBS can act as if they think it’s been OK. But I think no better. … We’ll see what happens with this situation. But, four years with $72 million is a lot of money. But, it’s a terrible look for Romo. He has not been good at his job. So it’s definitely a situation that is going to be watched closely.”
At this moment, CBS executives say they aren’t firing Romo, however, ultimately, Romo might have given CBS the excuse it’s been looking for. His worth will be tested in the upcoming days.
