Tony Romo responds to broadcast criticism ahead of Super Bowl telecast: ‘It’s just a normal arc of a career’

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is preparing to provide game analysis for Super Bowl LVIII from the broadcast booth. 

Romo retired from the NFL after the 2016 season. He then replaced Phil Simms in the booth when he was named the lead analyst for CBS Sports in 2017. Romo initially received a significant amount of praise for his energetic broadcasting style and his uncanny ability to predict how a play would develop before the ball was snapped. 

In recent years, the criticism from football fans, radio hosts, and social media has seemingly grown more critical of Romo’s broadcasting. During a CBS NFL media call earlier this week, Romo pushed back against those who have been vocal about how he handles his television job.

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CBS broadcaster Tony Romo before the AFC Championship game between the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs on January 19, 2020, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. (Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“It’s a normal arc of someone’s career,” he said. “Honestly, I think a lot of people were rooting against [Patrick] Mahomes because he’s been there. They want to see people new.

“It’s just part of an arc when you do something at a very high level. I think that’s normal. Same thing happens in football. You become dominant at things, and then all of a sudden people are like, ‘OK.’ Then at the end, Tiger Woods comes back and everyone roots for you. It’s just a normal arc of a career. It’s not abnormal. It’s absolutely what’s supposed to happen.”

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Social media platforms have generally become spaces where critiques are commonplace. Romo argued that someone who consistently praised the CBS Sports broadcast crew on social media could be viewed as “silly.” He also noted that people have approached him and expressed their appreciation for the broadcasts.

“If you liked our broadcast, and you said, ‘Wow, I love Jim Nantz and Tony Romo,’ and you said that on there on your tweet, are you going to keep doing that every week, or would that make you look a little silly?” he said. “I think there’s far more people who I see every single day who come up and love our broadcast and our team and CBS and what we do, and I hear that and feel that. And you can feel it in life. There’s so many people that have said they love us.”

Former NFL quarterback Tony Romo talks with Patrick Mahomes, #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Brittany Mahomes after the AFC championship game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on January 28, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland.  (Kara Durrette/Getty Images)

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“And so you’re going to have the negative aspects that come in from time to time, but those things are normal. That’s what’s supposed to happen through the arc. I’m telling you, there a lot of people who . . . if I went on there and sent a tweet out of ‘Hey, do you guys still like us?,’ I think you’d hear about it all over again.”

Jim Nantz, Tracy Wolfson, and Tony Romo attend the 2017 CBS Upfront at The Plaza Hotel on May 17, 2017, in New York City.  (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

Last year, a report from the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand stated that CBS leadership spoke with Romo during the previous offseason about how he prepares for his NFL telecasts. The company executives also sought to help Romo find methods that would allow him to develop better on-air chemistry with his broadcast partner, Jim Nantz, according to the report.

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Romo has taken some heat this season for referring to Taylor Swift as the “wife” of Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, but he has admitted that the reference was intended to be a joke.

The Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers face off in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on February 11.

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