Super Bowl LVIII is in the books and as sports media analyzes the game, some are also breaking down what happened in the booth with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo on CBS. Reactions to the way the game was called have been mixed, with most of the heat coming down on Romo for the final play of the game in overtime.
The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C. spent some time talking about the broadcast this morning as well as the feedback offered by others. Between hosts John Auville, Eric Bickel, Jason Bishop and John-Paul Flaim, they could not reach a consensus.
“E.B. thought [Romo] was great, I saw online a lot of people were hating on him, in particular on the last call for not letting the moment breathe,” one of the hosts said.
The hosts then played the final call from CBS. “Mahomes, flings it. It’s there. Hardman, jackpot, Kansas City!” said Nantz, followed by a very brief moment of silence from the broadcasters where you could hear the sound of the crowd reacting to the final play.
Romo then jumped right in, before a replay, and started talking about the play being an “Andy Reid special,” describing the motion of the receiver, talking about Hardman not being part of the Chiefs earlier in the season before alluding to Patrick Mahomes as Michael Jordan.
“I thought that was fine, totally fine, what’s the problem?” Eric Bickel said.
“People just like that moment, a lot of times, to breathe and just hear the crowd and watch it,” one of the hosts responded.
Bickel felt very strongly Romo had a great broadcast. “I had zero problem with Romo, in fact I thought Romo was excellent,” he said. “I learned a ton…I thought he was making great insights for the average fan…Romo was on fire last night.”
One of the hosts also mentioned a post on X from Steve Czaban of 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee about the last play and Romo’s quick interjection,”If I’m [CBS lead game producer] Jim Rikhoff in the truck for CBS, my headset is smashed into a million pieces after that.”
Several other media personalities and outlets weighed in on the topic:
