LAS VEGAS — Tony Romo has the perfect answer for anybody who asks how he handles the criticisms slung at the NFL on CBS broadcaster.
‘I was the quarterback for the Cowboys for many years, so,’ Romo said Tuesday.
Which job, then, makes it easier to deal with the naysayers?
‘These are small potatoes,’ Romo said of his current situation.
Well, then somebody pass the gravy.
SUPER BOWL CENTRAL: Latest Super Bowl 58 news, stats, odds, matchups and more.
As Romo prepares to call his third Super Bowl since transitioning straight from the playing field to the broadcast booth in 2017, the detractors of the CBS broadcast − namely of Romo − feel like they have become the majority.
‘I think you’re always trying to do new things,’ Romo said.
One area he has experimented, Romo said, is in showing his non-serious side more often in broadcasts.
‘I add humor in a lot of time,’ he explained. ‘So the people who really know me kind of get it. So when I’m joking about Taylor Swift being the wife (of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce), it’s a joke, not everyone gets it.’
The problem for Romo is that while his small circle may chuckle, the millions watching − make that hundreds of millions for the Super Bowl − aren’t. Innocently, Romo says he is trying to add levity to a broadcast that lasts more than three hours.
‘But it’s really about the game,’ Romo said. ‘And you’re always trying to make it about the game. So I just try and keep that focus. I know these teams so well now and you see them consistently.’
(To that last comment, Romo has to do some explaining, then, about how Jaylen Warren was a revelation to him ahead of the AFC wild-card round despite the Pittsburgh Steelers running back having a considerable role all season.)
In early 2020, CBS reset the football announcers’ market by signing Romo − who was being courted by ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football’ property − to a 10-year contract worth $17 million per year.
A few offseasons later, the network staged an intervention regarding his level of preparation, according to the New York Post, which CBS denied. Romo’s catchphrase − “Ohhhhhhh I don’t know, Jim,” − has become a meme on the Internet. The Ringer detailed how Romo fixates on the quarterback, the stars, and rarely names other players on the field.
THE LAW OF (TRAVIS) KELCE: Will CBS show Taylor Swift during Super Bowl? Depends on Chiefs tight end.
At the outset of his broadcasting career, Romo could do no wrong. He had a plethora of experience playing against the NFL defenses of the time and could predict a play with uncanny ability. Nantz called him ‘Romo-stradamus.’ It was entertaining and educational − the best of football broadcasting.
‘He has a huge presence and I think he’s grown tremendously over the years,’ sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson told USA TODAY Sports. ‘I think our broadcast has as well.
‘I learned a lot being alongside him. He just really shows you the nuances.’
Romo still has a swath of fans who appreciate the excitement and his analysis. For others, his style has become grating.
Too often, airtime becomes filled with Nantz and Romo asking each other − or other members of the broadcast, like rules analyst Gene Steratore − to describe what everyone watching on television can already see. The insight is thin. And compared to other top booths with less experience working together − NBC’s Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth and FOX’s Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen − their chemistry does not match up.
NFL on CBS lead producer Jim Rikoff said the broadcast team enters each week focused on its craft, not any outside critiques. Romo and Nantz complement each other and are looking forward to putting a bow on one of their better years, Rikoff said.
‘He’s learning as he’s going,’ Rikoff told USA TODAY Sports when asked about Romo’s progression.
Growth is always good, but that’s not necessarily the type of comment a person in the seventh year of any occupation would necessarily want to hear.
Romo entered broadcasting when a back injury − two surgeries have left him needing an hour to prep his body for daily movement − and the emergence of Dak Prescott in Dallas ended his playing days. But he doesn’t harbor any ill will for taking his last snap at 36 years old.
‘It’s almost humbling why anybody deserves everything I’ve gotten,’ said Romo, now 43. ‘So I don’t look at it in any negative capacity. I feel like I’m the luckiest guy on earth.’
A father of three boys ages 11, 9 and 6, Romo added: ‘I’m a dad first. I announce second. And this is probably my favorite time in life right now.’
Football fans would appreciate if he started announcing like it.