It’s no secret to anyone who has watched NFL football on CBS this season but Tony Romo’s stock as a color commentator has been dropping in a hurry.
Just two years ago, Romo was heralded as the next great football broadcaster. Now, audiences no longer appreciate his overexuberance, strange noises, and weird metaphors. Criticism isn’t just coming from viewers either as some big names in sports media have called him out as well.
CBS signed Romo to a massive 10-year, $180 million contract two years ago but some are already wondering if they might regret the decision. In fact, according to the NY Post’s Andrew Marchand, CBS executives attempted an “intervention” with Romo during the last offseason in order to fix the issues plaguing his calls.
“Tony Romo needs to study more,” Marchand said on this week’s episode of The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast. “He needs to be 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.”
Romo downplayed criticism in an interview with the NY Post, saying that his work is going through “trial and error” but still seems to be popular. Still, the news that CBS has been concerned about the former QB for some time now had the NFL world wondering where Romo goes from here, especially as other broadcasters seem to be passing him by.
The Kyler Murray of announcers. https://t.co/O54SY6C5p2
— Ryan McDowell (@RyanMc23) February 2, 2023
If you think this is wild, you should have seen Tony Romo as a quarterback.
— Bryan Curtis (@bryancurtis) February 2, 2023
"Tony, you have to stop moaning during instant replays" https://t.co/ObSQYIAefN
— Sam Ali (@SamAliSports) February 2, 2023
Romo has been awful this season (last year too). When he started he was insightful and wasn’t trying to be the show.
Greg Olsen was 100x the color analyst Romo was this season. https://t.co/ffJ4s31E5G
— Dawgs By Nature (@DawgsByNature) February 2, 2023
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.