CBS Sports NFL analyst Tony Romo has come under scrutiny for his commentating the last few weeks.
Romo, once thought of as the top color commentator in football, has faced criticism for how he’s adjusted his broadcasting style from the one that made him so popular in recent years. New York Post media columnist Andrew Marchand recently wrote that bosses at CBS have had to stage what was called “an intervention” with Romo to tweak how he calls a game, although CBS says that is a mischaracterization of the meetings.
On 106.7 The Fan in DC, host Danny Rouhier said the wave that Romo rode to stardom in the booth has crashed, and the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback needs to catch up with the changing tides in the NFL.
“So much is different. He can’t just get by on all that base of knowledge that he had,” Rouhier said on Friday’s Grant & Danny. “And he could just walk into the booth without having done anything, know what everybody was doing all the time because he had just seen it. I think that’s gone, and I think he needs to have that sort of come to Jesus moment where he can be more prepared to get that sort of sense back.”
Co-host Grant Paulsen said it was more a matter of Romo catching hate because that’s what people on the internet love to do with commentators.
“I think he is unique and different. Unique and different is bashed, and I think people are bashing him,” Paulsen said. “I don’t think there’s much more to it than that.”
“I think he’s stopped predicting plays to some extent, he still does it a little bit, because he shouldn’t be predicting plays,” he added. “Like I always thought that was the worst part about what he’s doing. I know he got a lot of attention and credit and people loved it. But like telling us right before the play, ‘They’re gonna run left here,’ is not your job. I guess there was some novelty to it.”
Paulsen said since Romo is the top dog in terms of NFL analysts, being the subject of strict scrutiny for every little thing comes with the territory. He said other big names like Cris Collinsworth, Al Michaels and Joe Buck all catch flack.
But Paulsen added he didn’t think CBS has tried to have Romo dial back some of his commentary. He did believe CBS has met with Romo to offer notes and help him develop.
“If you’re paying someone 30 million dollars a year you probably do that,” he said. “I would be willing to bet CBS is not concerned that Tony Romo is bad at this after it wasn’t even two years ago he was the toast of commentary.”
“I guess I don’t see what everyone else sees about how he’s regressed,” Paulsen added. “I just think it’s piling on a guy people don’t like because it’s a job that people don’t like. I think there is an element of him having turned up the fader on the Romo-isms.”
