Tony Romo is on the precipice of calling the first Super Bowl of his broadcasting career. If you expected this to get him to refocus his efforts and return to the roots that made him one of the NFL’s more enlightening color commentators, you were incorrect.
Romo continued to lean into his worst instincts in the both during Sunday’s showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. His inarticulate “oh my god” reactions to great plays continued, giving folks at home watching with vaguely stoned friends the chance to hear it in stereo. His on-field experience occasionally pointed out audibles and coverage schemes and occasionally made no damn sense whatsoever.
"In games like this, the ball matters more than any game."
– Tony Romo. https://t.co/mfzwC4ceJZ pic.twitter.com/wyfxiTUwiA
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 28, 2024
Minutes later, he’d tell a Chiefs team with three timeouts and Patrick Mahomes behind center with fewer than two minutes left in the first half “I would tell you to be safe here, as a quarterback.” That drive resulted in in a called-back touchdown before a field goal gave Kansas City a 17-7 halftime lead.
Romo was more composed in the latter two quarters of a more subdued game. Still, it was not the kind of performance you’d expect from someone getting paid nearly $1 million per game to sit atop CBS’s announce teams.
CBS is paying Tony Romo $180 million over 10 years for this.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 28, 2024
As usual, fans, analysts and NFL veterans alike noticed. And they took to Twitter to work through their frustrations.
It’s insane that the first year where he was really good turned out to be a one hit wonder https://t.co/R45TOuyewA
— Super Bowl 52 MVP (@vj_v_) January 28, 2024
@Nate_Tice THE BALL MATTERS, JIM!
— Brandon Marcus (@B_JMarc10) January 28, 2024
"in games like this the ball matters more than anything" nice lol
— Bruno Reagan (@BrunoReagan) January 28, 2024
Starting to strongly dislike hearing Romo
— Dj Reader (@Djread98) January 28, 2024
“In games like this, the ball matters more than any game.” — Tony Romo pic.twitter.com/brWFxa0yic
— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) January 28, 2024
pretty sure tony romo just had an orgasm pic.twitter.com/LWBYcQ2pjJ
— bobby yaga (gooch) (@bobgoochman) January 28, 2024
People complaining about the occasional shots of Taylor Swift when we’re forced to hear Tony Romo the entire game.
— Tony (@tonyarnoldine) January 28, 2024
Tony Romo: “Oppenheimer was great but does it match the majesty of Interstellar? The intrigue of Inception? YEAAAAAAAAAAAA I DON’T KNOW JIM!!!”
Jim Nantz: “Jackson to the left for 4. 2nd down.”
— Oluwajomiloju (@JomiAdeniran) January 28, 2024
Romo: “That ankle gets twisted”
(Dude clearly got poked in the eye)
Keep this in mind when you listen to announcers on golf coverage.
— MM GOLF STUDIO🇺🇸 (@MMGOLFSTUDIOS) January 28, 2024
Watching the Chiefs and Ravens while listening to Tony Romo…. pic.twitter.com/CnqIhiH1Gs
— Patrick Carey (@PatCareySports) January 28, 2024
“This is Mahomes toughest task yet ok his career”-Tony Romo. Like Mahomes hasn’t been to 3 super bowls and won 2 of them lol
— Francheska Lathrop (@francheska_d_l) January 28, 2024
Travis Jones: *gets poked in the eye*
Tony Romo: “Ooh right there his ankle gets twisted”
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) January 28, 2024
Everyone finding out Tony Romo is announcing the Superbowl this year
pic.twitter.com/a42ByQl17f— Splash and Furious 🐬 (@JoshuaClow) January 28, 2024
Chris Jones! Great play to end the drive with the greatest play Tony Romo has ever seen.
— Joshua Brisco (@jbbrisco) January 28, 2024
has Tony Romo considered just shutting up
— The Ginger Swindler (@lilydsmith) January 28, 2024
Tony Romo has replaced Collinsworth honestly. I can tune Collinsworth out but Romo talks so much you just can’t.
— Darian Somers (@StuffSomersSays) January 28, 2024
No one talks themself into a cul de sac like Tony Romo.
— Jason Stewart (@JasonStewart) January 28, 2024
Tony Romo has had like 17 "greatest plays he's ever seen" in the playoffs so far, right?
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) January 28, 2024
Tony Romo saying the Chiefs winning and deferring the kickoff is "surprising" pic.twitter.com/sEOBX1OMiL
— Aaron Borgmann (@RehabAllStar) January 28, 2024
the state of in-game commentary seems so awful and i can't remember when exactly it happened but they really aren't saying anything even remotely relevant or accurate. romo especially is all over the place, reacting to everything like he has zero object permanence
— James Brady (@jamesbradyisme) January 28, 2024