CBS NFL analyst Tony Romo has come under the microscope in recent days amid increased criticism about his performance at the network.
The 41-year-old just completed his sixth season for CBS as an NFL analyst, working alongside the network’s top NFL commentary team of play-by-play man Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson.
As previously noted, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post recently reported that CBS had an “intervention” with Romo last month to address his need to improve his on-air performance with Nantz.
On the latest edition of his podcast (h/t Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post) veteran FOX Sports journalist Colin Cowherd offered a theory as to why the criticism against Romo has increased.
Specifically, Cowherd suggested that it’s because of Romo’s love for the game of golf:
“I’ve used this for years when I would interview people and I was going to hire them. If I had lunch or coffee with them, I always asked them if they loved golf. ‘Oh, I love golf. Do you love golf?’
“And if they said yes, I wouldn’t hire them. Because I always had this theory that as guys age, many of them get addicted to golf. They’re on PGATour.com, they’re putting in the backyard, they’re thinking about it at work, they’re scheduling a trip to Scotland and they lose sight of their other job…
Romo wants to be on the Tour. He literally wants to be on the Tour. And what’s the first thing Aaron Rodgers does in the off-season, he goes and golfs, he loves it. Both, by the way, great golfers, especially Romo. But I’ve always felt like Tony Romo is one of those guys, and we all have somebody in our social circle like this, they got the golf bug, he’s had it for 15 years. Tony wants to be on the PGA Tour — but he likes the paycheck from CBS.”
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After completing his third season at the network, Romo was awarded a lucrative 10-year contract extension worth $180 million annually. The market for NFL analysts at major networks has increased heavily ever since, as Troy Aikman got a reported $90 million over five years at ESPN.
And of course, the now-retired Tom Brady will eventually join the FOX Sports broadcast booth on a 10-year deal worth $375 million. Brady will be working on the network’s top commentary team with play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporter Erin Andrews.
Romo and Nantz have called two Super Bowl games together for CBS, Super Bowl 53 in the 2018 season and Super Bowl 55 in the 2020 campaign.
Before he joined CBS, Romo was a star quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. The four-time Pro Bowler led Dallas to four postseason appearances and a trio of NFC East division titles (2007, 2009 and 2014).
