Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who’s now an NFL on CBS football analyst has wowed viewers with his knowledge of the game and risen up analyst ranks quickly. From his calling out plays before they happen to his breaking down situational football, Romo has been a natural since joining the top CBS duo with the legendary Jim Nantz as an in-game color analyst.
Why Did Tony Romo Fall Off?
That is until this season, where Romo has sounded unprepared and off kilter weekly. It sounded as if he was winging it most of the season, and that’s not going to work in that profession.
In fact, Romo was so off at times that Andrew Marchand of the New York Post mentioned on his podcast with John Ourand of Business Sports Journal that CBS wanted to have an “intervention” ahead of the 2022 season. He then stated that situation “has not gotten better.”
Tony Romo Getting Lazy?
Marchand also said Romo’s struggles stem from his lack of study time and focus on perfecting his craft.
“Tony Romo needs to study more. He needs to he better prepared. As you move away from the sidelines, you need to do more work. I know CBS is aware of this. They tried an intervention last offseason. They knew, they anticipated this. That’s a credit to them, the people in charge there. But it has not gotten better.”
CBS had attempted an “intervention” with broadcaster Tony Romo in advance of the 2022 season, but things “did not get better” per @AndrewMarchand
Romo signed a 10-year, $180 million contract with CBS in 2020 after rising quickly to start his career but suffered a decline since. pic.twitter.com/ct4BLC5rNQ
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 3, 2023
Romo seems to think he can just show up and call the game. But it requires preparation, just like anything you do, but it also means he must study film of the two teams for that week so he can professionally inform the viewers of things they may not know.
Upon his arrival to the booth, this was actually one of Romo’s strengths.
Romo Stole Show Two Years Ago, Struggled Mightily Last Week
No one can forget how the former Cowboys signal caller was during the 2020 and 2021 AFC Championship Games. He didn’t miss a beat; he was so locked-in it sounded as if he was in the facility with each team all week. But that wasn’t the case during last year’s matchup between the Chiefs and Bengals, and things reportedly got worse during last week’s rematch, where Romo stumbled over his words at times, was delayed in his answering simple football questions. The effect caused folks to wonder if he really did the required legwork leading up to the game.
Tony Romo was about to say 3 n*ggas on live TV 😭 pic.twitter.com/iLg1Jnh9Yw
— GhettoGronk (@TheGhettoGronk) January 30, 2023
Awful Announcing’s Sean Keeley summed up Romo in the booth with this statement.
“Two years ago, Romo was hailed as the next great color commentator, seemingly able to predict plays in real-time and provide interesting game analysis. Since then, however, he seems to have devolved into a human catchphrase and exclamation machine who can’t even be counted on to be ready to speak when asked a question. Critics are out in full force wondering what happened, and his performance on Sunday during the AFC Championship Game didn’t do much to quell their concerns.”
Tony Romo went from "insightful, predictive announcer" to "Bob Saget narrating America's Home Videos" in two years
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) January 30, 2023
Romo is making $18M per year, and just finished year three of a 10-year, $180M contract, so it’s highly unlikely he’s removed.
CBS Says Meeting Wasn’t An Intervention
With measures like taking trips to visit with Romo, dinner meetings and even reviewing tapes being taken by CBS execs, this is more serious than they want to lead on, but they were also to say it wasn’t an intervention. CBS spokesperson Jen Sabatelle told reporters so.
“To call this an intervention is a complete mischaracterization, we meet regularly with our on-air talent,” Sabatelle said.
While it may not be to the extreme of an intervention, it’s definitely something that’s concerning to those decision-makers at CBS. If not, there’d be no reason to disclose this.
And with next year’s Super Bowl on CBS, Romo needs to pick it up, and fast.
