Payne and Pendergast hosts Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast spent time this morning on SportsRadio 610 in Houston on the recent negative press surrounding CBS duo Jim Nantz and Tony Romo. The topic has been addressed by several sports media outlets, including Barrett Sports Media and by New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand.
Sean Pendergast doesn’t think the chemistry is there between Nantz and Romo. “I don’t think they like each other,” he said. “I think Jim Nantz wants to be so many other places right now other than doing a game with Tony Romo.”
Seth Payne talked about Romo being lauded in his first few years with CBS, when he would often predict plays before they happened. Payne noted the prognosticating wasn’t all Romo was bringing to the telecasts. “He does give a boatload insight,” Payne said.
As far as the current day criticism of the Romo and Nantz, Payne said, “It’s like they are moving further and further apart. It’s almost like Romo is getting goofier and more childish as Nantz is turning in to a grumpy old man.”
Payne shared a sentiment others have said about Romo, which is the further he gets away from having played, the less information he seems to be able to give the viewers.
After reading a few of the sentences in Marchand’s column, Pendergast did mention the shade being thrown at Romo is coming more from media members and not necessarily from the general public. “The ratings aren’t suffering because Tony Romo is on there,” he pointed out. “It’s probably people that are more in tuned with actual football and looking more for analaysis that don’t really like Romo’s broadcast.”
He added, “It’s uncomfortable to listen to. If you have any sort of ear for it, you can tell that Jim Nantz doesn’t seem to enjoy doing these broadcasts with Tony Romo.”
As for CBS making a decision to make a change in the short-term, Pendergast said, “They’re committed to Romo for another six years. I don’t think they’re going to pay him $18M a year to bump him down to the C-team or fire him.”
