Like any prominent sports broadcaster, CBS NFL color commentator Tony Romo has not been immune to criticism about his performance in the booth.
Complaints about Romo and his partner, Jim Nantz, during NFL games seemed to ring a bit louder throughout 2022. With a new season just weeks away, Romo told The Athletic that he is not feeling the heat or feeling like he is under any sort of pressure heading into ’23. In fact, he harkened back to his days as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback and how frequent critiques as a player made him better today as a broadcaster.
“I remember reading in the comments section of the newspaper in my second year or so there were people saying, ‘He throws it too low, he’ll never make it,’” Romo said. “So I went and tried to throw higher arm because some guy wrote an article or said it in the comments. I mean, how dumb, right? It’s like that guy had no idea what he’s talking about. What’s said is not always reality.”
So does Romo believe that he is still part of a special booth at CBS? You better believe it.
“People come to me now and they say they love our crew, they love how we do it,” Romo said. “Like anything, we’ve been at such a high level doing this for so long that it doesn’t matter who you are, people are not going to continually write the same article about how great you are. I mean, you wouldn’t do that. You’re not going to continually write, ‘They are the best,’ over and over again. They might still think it, but people have to find things to write. I think that’s just part of human nature.”
Romo believes that the way media is trending—to an agenda driven, clickbait world, he says—only further amplifies the criticism.
“And guess what? There’s agendas. People like clicks. I mean, that’s a real thing. And I think they should. I think it’s all a positive. Talking about it, it helps all of the NFL. Our job is to go out there and perform like we’ve done and try to always do our best. I think we’ve done a great job with that. You’re looking at a very talented group here. Like all things, we’re going to go and try to put our best foot forward. … You don’t go by what some people might say. [CBS executives] love our team. They know how talented this group is. I think they appreciate our skill set, and we do theirs.”
