Tony Romo was the broadcasting darling for a few years after becoming CBS's No. 1 NFL analyst in 2017.
Romo had a different style from all the other analysts calling games. Fans and media ate it up.
However, people’s opinions on Romo started to change in the past couple of years, with criticism reaching a fever pitch late season. It wasn’t just people on Twitter complaining about Romo. The former Cowboys quarterback was taking shots from those who cover media and the NFL.
Romo’s broadcast partner Jim Nantz addressed the backlash against Romo on the latest edition of SI Media With Jimmy Traina.
“I think there was a little bit of a misinformation attempt there to portray him in a not-so-favorable light,” Nantz said on the podcast. “It was very disappointing. It really got, to me, more steam after the AFC championship game, which was our last game. And for the life of me, I didn’t understand it.
"Tony is the best. He’s the absolute best. And he’s also one of my best friends. I love the guy. And when somebody starts questioning our chemistry, there’s an agenda there. There is nothing wrong with our chemistry. I have never had better chemistry with anybody in my career than Tony. All you have to do is sit in the booth with us, which people that are covering our business, they’re always welcome to come in and take a look at how we interact between the two of us, on the air, off the air, between plays. It’s amazing. I’m not worried about it. Here’s what I don’t get. Where was all this outcry during the season? It’s not like we were invisible.
“Tony is amazing. Don’t ask everybody to be the same, by the way. Tony does it his own way. I’m talking presentation and everything. Tony has his way of watching a game. It’s fun. There’s a magnetism with Tony. There’s an excitement. It’s real. Our friendship is real.
“We’re doing games during the season, like Buffalo-Kansas City, not a whimper. By the way, those were playoff ratings. We did a Thanksgiving Day game which was the most-watched game of the year I think in the regular season. One or two, anyway. We had the Christmas afternoon game, 100% national, gigantic audience. We didn’t do any of these games in January any different than we did during the regular season. So why all of a sudden are people taking cheap shots? I don’t get it.”
Nantz added he gets a different reaction from the public regarding Romo’s performance in the booth.
"If you really wanna look at it through the course of the season, I think it speaks for itself what the public says about Tony. You’re building it down to what maybe some media observers say and what Twitter says, but all I never hear about from people is they love the team and they love Tony and we’re gonna have a great season. I have so much respect for him and what he’s done and what he’s done to elevate the excitement of the NFL."
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.
