Tony Romo got arrested for suspicion of OWI (operating while intoxicated) in Milwaukee last week. Dan Le Batard thinks CBS just found its exit ramp if it chooses to use it for the NFL broadcaster.
What We Know: Milwaukee County deputies arrested Romo on July 23 for suspicion of operating while intoxicated. Hours after he played in the Wisconsin Amateur Championship. He faces a court date on September 21, which falls during CBS’ Week 2 NFL slate. Romo has anchored CBS’ lead broadcast alongside Jim Nantz since 2017.. Meanwhile, reports surfaced in 2023 that CBS executives staged an “intervention” over his preparation habits. Following his arrest, Dan Le Batard said that if CBS executives were not happy with Romo’s performance, they could use the OWI as a way to cut ties.
What They Said: (All quotes via The Dan Le Batard Show)
Dan Le Batard says CBS Sports could use Tony Romo’s OWI as an opportunity to cut ties with Romo: “Given that his employers had to stage what was called an intervention to get him to work harder. Now you have an incident like this that doesn’t have the kind of shame that would end someone like Mark Sanchez’s career. It has a shame involved that if you were looking for a reason to get rid of somebody. This kind of publicity is reason enough.”
Dan Le Batard on Tony Romo not advancing as a broadcaster at CBS Sports: “Tony Romo is the first guy I’ve ever heard in the history of sports broadcasting who was so recently in the game and had such fluency for what it is that he was watching that he was impressing everybody by telling you what was going to happen before it happened. There has been nobody in the history of my sports broadcasting watching that has been able to do what Tony Romo did. But the evolution of the game changes so much. Once he lost that parlor trick, almost immediately, what was Tony Romo’s stock started going down with everyone. Including his employers. Who reportedly had an intervention because they didn’t think he was working hard enough at what he was doing.”
What Remains Unclear: CBS has not commented publicly on the arrest. It’s unclear whether Wisconsin’s civil OWI charge, a first offense, changes the network’s calculus.
What It Means: Romo’s arrest is a poor lapse in judgement for the CBS Sports NFL analyst. However, Le Batard’s larger point centers on decline, not scandal. He argued Romo’s early success came from a “parlor trick” of predicting plays, a skill that faded as the game evolved and Romo’s years on the field became more distant. Once that edge disappeared, according to Le Batard, Romo’s standing with viewers, and with his own employers, started slipping. It’s worth noting that CBS Sports was the most viewed network for NFL football coverage during the 2025 season, which includes Nantz and Romo in the booth. Whether or not this incident will become a bigger issue is unknown.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.