Tony Romo has analyzed plays for CBS Sports since 2017. Now he’s considering a new one, in which he hopes the network allows him to return following a run-in with the law.
Romo on Tuesday said he pleaded no contest to a charge of operating while intoxicated stemming from an incident that took place in Milwaukee in July, and expressed hope in a statement that he’d be able to resume his NFL duties for the Paramount Skydance broadcast network. CBS Sports placed the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback on leave after he was arrested following a traffic stop made on Interstate 43 in Wisconsin.
CBS has not commented on the situation since sports chief David Berson said last month that the company had no timeline for Romo’s return, and wanted to put its focus on promoting its NFL slate. CBS Sports has tapped JJ Watt to pick up duties alongside regulars Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson when the network’s first Sunday football telecast takes place September 13.
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“The past month has been difficult, but it has also been personally significant,” Romo said via a statement released on social media “It has required me to confront and own my mistakes fully — to the Lord, to myself, to my family and now to the public.”
He cited multiple back surgeries that spurred his retirement from the NFL as a factor in the incident, noting they “left me with constant, debilitating pain” which “led to a dependence on pain medication, and my efforts to get off those medications led to an over-reliance on alcohol.”
“None of this is an excuse,” Romo said. “These are my failures and I take responsibility for them.”
Romo, whose deal with CBS was valued in 2020 at about $17 million per year, has been an instrumental part of the company’s roster of sports talent, and the company’s decision to put him on leave could have consequences beyond who will call the opening game in CBS’ next season of telecasting professional football in the afternoon. The NFL has already held preliminary talks with CBS parent Paramount Skydance, according to two people familiar with the matter, about certain terms of a new rights deal. The change of control of the company, which is backed by the Ellison family, who bought Paramount from longtime owner Shari Redstone, triggered the league’s ability to discuss terms.
CBS, like Fox, NBCUniversal, Disney and Amazon, is in the middle of an 11-year pact with the NFL that will keep games tied to those companies through 2033. The challenge? The league has an option that allows it to renegotiate terms with most of the companies after 2029, and with Disney after 2030.
Romo only had experience on the field when he joined CBS Sports in 2017 as the lead game analyst on the network’s popular “NFL on CBS.” Behind the scenes, however, Romo worked with CBS football producer Jim Rikhoff to find his footing in the studio. “We rehearsed different games, old games, took the audio off, did a lot of trial and error, until we found his voice,” Rikhoff told Variety in 2019. “He’s experienced and talks about the games in ways that most people understand,” he said. “It really feels authentic. I try to stay out of his way and give him as much leeway as I can.”
Romo’s acumen for predicting game play drew notice almost immediately, and lent new polish to a broadcast that has been around since the days of Brent Musburger and Pat Summerall.
Romo said he has enlisted doctors to help him “make the necessary changes” for his well-being. “As I turn my attention to my health, my family, and, in time, my return to CBS, I kindly ask for privacy during this period,” Romo added. Given the importance of NFL games to the business of CBS and the popularity of the game among American audiences, it’s not clear he’ll get it.
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