“Where’s the beef?” was a famous catchphrase back in the 1980s. That’s my question about some of the overwrought coverage surrounding Tony Romo of CBS Sports.
If you believe the chorus of negative stories and doom-mongering, you’d think CBS’s lead NFL game analyst was falling on his face–and that his job could be at risk after his ninth season on the air.
I’ve spent weeks looking into this “Romo in trouble” storyline. I talked to multiple sources. I’ve looked for the typical evidence CBS is unhappy with him. My conclusion? It’s an overblown media narrative. (CBS declined comment for this story.)
This week, Romo took a pounding for his erratic performance during Sunday’s Bills-Jaguars game–particularly his nonsensical opening. Fair enough. Romo later told Adam Schein he was battling through illness. During a bonkers 4th quarter that featured four lead changes, Romo and play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz brought it. As Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News wrote, the duo “were at their best capturing the anxiety-ridden drama” as the Bills roared back for a 27-24 victory.
During a superlative 2025 season, CBS’s No. 1 team of Romo, Nantz, and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson led their network to its most-watched season on record. Did I mention they just called the most-watched regular season game in the NFL’s 105-year history?
If the 45-year old Romo were in trouble, he’d be hearing it from the CBS suits in New York, starting with president David Berson.
He’s not, say sources.
CBS’s top producer Jim Rikhoff and lead director Mike Arnold would be all over Romo and Nantz with suggestions. That’s not happening either, say sources.
However, there is boiling frustration inside CBS over what they see as a slanted media narrative against Romo. “It’s much ado about nothing,” says one source.
I’ve been covering the former Cowboys QB turned TV star since he burst onto the scene as a 36-year old sportscaster in 2017. Under Nantz’s veteran tutelage, the TV rookie became the hottest thing in sports TV overnight. He was nicknamed “Romostradamus,” a football fortune-teller uncannily predicting plays viewers would witness seconds later. CBS rewarded him with an eye-popping 10-year, $180 million deal in 2020.
Does Romo predict plays as much as before? No. But to me, Romo, Nantz, Wolfson and rules analyst Gene Steratore are a great team. They achieve a big-game feel. When I compare the reality of this team’s performance to the Internet criticism, there’s no there there. Consider:
- Romo, Nantz, and Wolfson just led CBS to its best season since returning to NFL coverage in 1998. On Thanksgiving Day, they posted the most-watched NFL regular season game ever, pulling a monster 57.2 million viewers for Chiefs-Cowboys.
- CBS topped rival Fox in the national 4:25pm Sunday time slot this season, averaging 25.8 million viewers.
- With an overall average audience of 21.3 million, CBS scored its best NFL regular season on record, televising four of the league’s top seven most-watched games.
- The momentum continued over Wild Card weekend, with CBS scoring 32.7 million viewers for Bills-Jaguars. That made it the most-watched early Sunday AFC Wild Card telecast ever, on any network.
I hear you: People tune in for the football, not the announcers. True. But lousy broadcasters turn off fans. If Romo were so bad, viewers would vote with their remotes. They haven’t.
Excelling on live TV for over 3 hours is not easy. I’ll go to my grave stating Romo and Nantz called the perfect game during the Patriots-Chiefs AFC Championship Game in 2019.
Romo and Nantz don’t have chemistry, you might say. This might be the strangest take I’ve seen. I’d say Romo and Nantz have the best chemistry of anyNFL duo outside of ESPN’s Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, the longest-tenured team at 24 seasons and counting. They’re conversational, informative, and funny.
Take Bills-Jags. In the thrilling 4th quarter, Romo noted the Bills were having more success throwing and running outside the numbers. Bang! Bills QB Josh Allen hit Dalton Kincaid with a 15-yard TD pass up the left sideline, putting the Bills in the lead 20-17. Then, with the Bills trailing 24-20, Romo alerted viewers that Superman Allen would take over. “You see Josh calling the play at the line of scrimmage? If the Bills are going down, Josh Allen will have the ball in his hands on every play,” Romo noted. Zing! While throwing off his back foot, Allen hit Brandin Cooks with a 36-yard pass that set up the winning touchdown. Romostradamus still lives.
For those who say Romo hasn’t evolved, consider Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas in 2024. When Nantz uttered his famous “Jackpot, Kansas City” call after the Chiefs’ walkoff TD in overtime, Romo blathered over the moment instead of letting it breathe. Big mistake, as many pointed out. He learned his lesson and never did it again. Romo knows: Sometimes less is more. Just let the confetti fall.
Nantz’s Role in Romo’s Future
Nantz is a big player here, too. With his coverage of the NFL, the Masters Tournament, and NCAA March Madness, he’s been the face of CBS Sports for 40 years. A decade ago, Nantz was a good soldier when ex-CBS president Sean McManus replaced the 19-year veteran Simms with Romo. But the 66-year old legend might not be happy about losing another trusted on-air partner who was hailed as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Does CBS want to piss Nantz off?
Romo and Nantz finished 7th in Awful Announcing‘s 2025 NFL Announcers poll. That was still ahead of Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt of Fox, and Kirk Herbstreit and Al Michaels of Amazon Prime Video, who finished 9th and 8th, respectively. (Greg Olsen/Joe Davis of Fox and Aikman/Buck of ESPN were No. 1 and 2). As one AA reader wrote about Romo/Nantz: “This team is as good as ever. I don’t believe Tony is slipping at all. Look forward to all their games.”
Romo isn’t for everybody. Even John Madden had detractors. Romo can be goofy. His ebullient personality is more in the style of Madden, ESPN’s Dick Vitale, or the late Dandy Don Meredith of ABC’s Monday Night Football. Yes, Romo can be like a big kid having fun in the booth. But I’ll take that over some jaded commentator who’s bored—and boring.
As for those calling for Romo to be demoted or dumped, here’s a reality check. CBS has a Super Bowl in 2028. Romo’s under contract through 2030. He’s not going anywhere.
After 2030, who knows? Romo’s a scratch golfer who’s won many celebrity events. At age 50, he might be as likely to try out for the Champions Tour as stay in sports TV. Besides his $180 million windfall from CBS, he earned $127 million over his 14 seasons as a Cowboys QB, per Spotrac. So he won’t need the money.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo is not a Romo fan. He recently ripped him as a “horrendous” broadcaster. But anybody who believes CBS will demote Romo and Nantz in favor of the new team of J.J. Watt and Ian Eagle are kidding themselves, as Russo admitted. “What is saving Romo is Nantz,” he said. “The idea that they’re gonna embarrass Nantz by moving him to the two-game is the dumbest thing.”
A fickle sports media likes to build up stars and tear them down. Social media sites like X/Twitter can be a funhouse mirror that distorts reality. A decade ago, the Twitterverse flexed its muscles calling for Simms’ ouster. They got their scalp. Now, some of the same voices are calling for Romo to be demoted in favor of Watt or Mike Tomlin. Good luck. I’d put the chances of CBS paying a second-string NFL analyst $18 million annually somewhere between slim and none.
Let Romo Be Romo
In person, I’m impressed by Romo’s star power and X’s and O’s acumen. I’ll never forget how Romo predicted to me at CBS’s 2018 Media Day that Sam Darnold would be a star. It took a while, but he was dead right. But he and CBS could do more public opportunities.
Romo doesn’t schmooze local press and columnists or do much media. That’s his prerogative. But compare his approach to that of ESPN’s Buck and Aikman. They do interviews and share war stories with sports media podcasters. Ditto for the media-friendly Olsen. Romo’s absence creates a vacuum—that vacuum is getting filled with anti-Romo chatter. CBS should be using Romo and Nantz more outside game telecasts.
Like CBS does with Romo and Nantz, Fox PR frustrates sports media by rejecting almost all interview/podcast requests for Brady. But Fox employs the seven-time Super Bowl winner in other ways. Brady regularly does interviews with FS1’s Colin Cowherd. He’s a familiar face on Fox’s social media channels, with his “LFG Player of the Game” and “Story Time with Tom” segments. These bite-sized digital offerings humanize the robotic Brady.
In the same vein, Romo’s interview with Schein helped explain, if not justify, Sunday’s shaky performance. But Schein’s an NFL on CBS colleague. His show was a soft landing spot. So let’s spitball about next season. Maybe Romo and Nantz do a weekly hit with Schein, Russo, or ESPN’s Pat McAfee? I think they would kill it in more relaxed settings. They’d be liberated to opine on the league, the Cowboys, Jerry Jones.
Madden and CBS pioneered this type of fun, shoulder programming 40 years ago with the “All-Madden” player awards in 1984. Why can’t Romo do something similar?
CBS’s No. 1 crew have two more huge games to call this post-season: Saturday’s pivotal Bills-Broncos AFC Divisional Playoff at 4:30 p.m ET; then the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 25. I predict they’ll rise to the occasion.
Some CBS folks believe Romo and Nantz are being unfairly maligned. Maybe it’s time they get their arms around this thing by being more proactive. Let Romo be Romo. Let Nantz be Nantz. CBS has a great NFL story this season. Let your best storytellers tell it. To paraphrase Romo himself, if this former QB is going down, let him do it with the ball in his own hands.
