CBS citing ‘brand and image’ as reason to bench Tony Romo doesn’t bode well for his future at network

CBS finally provided some answers on Tuesday to what suddenly became the top NFL media storyline of the offseason.

After the network placed lead NFL analyst Tony Romo on indefinite leave following an impaired driving arrest in Wisconsin last month, CBS needed to reshuffle several of its top NFL booths to fill the gaps. Jim Nantz will work with J.J. Watt, who was elevated from the No. 2 team. Ian Eagle will work with Ross Tucker on the new-look second team, with Tucker being elevated from Tom McCarthy’s booth last season. Several other down-ballot changes were made to fill the gaps left behind.

Now, the question on everyone’s mind after CBS announced its Romo-induced shakeup is this: How long will these new booths last?

While CBS Sports president David Berson was predictably calculated and diplomatic in his remarks addressing the Romo situation on Tuesday, he did give some nuggets of insight into the network’s thinking. Two words stuck out in particular: brand and image.

“In making this decision, we had to consider the impact on our image and on our brand. That’s very important to us,” Berson told reporters in his brief opening remarks.

In a statement that was largely filled with corporate speak and hedging about the future, those two words stood out. And if you’re Tony Romo, it’s those two words that might keep you up at night until this matter is resolved.

Much ink has already been spilled about the morals clause present in Romo’s CBS contract. It’s standard for companies to include such provisions in talent contracts, though important talent like Romo can negotiate more favorable language. No one knows exactly how that clause reads in Romo’s contract, but it’s clear that by citing brand and image, CBS is setting the stage for that type of argument to be made should the network permanently relieve Romo of his duties.

The timing of CBS’ decision to bench Romo raised an eyebrow. The network made the call in the days following the release of body camera footage from Romo’s arrest, where the NFL analyst participated in, and failed, a field sobriety test. Asked by Awful Announcing if the body cam footage influenced CBS’ decision, Berson reiterated that the network needed to be “proactive” in its response.

“I’m not going to get into the specifics of when and what we decided. But we felt that as the situation was evolving, and not knowing necessarily what might come, that we needed to be proactive and have a definitive plan so our team could do their jobs,” the CBS Sports president said.

While remaining firmly noncommittal, Berson is actually saying a lot. Networks do not talk about protecting their brand and image when they really want to retain someone. If CBS were interested in keeping Romo, they’d be far more likely to strike a tone about how this was one terrible misjudgment in a sterling record of personal conduct, an aberration. They’d say that Romo is simply on leave pending the legal process, and that they’d make a determination once that runs its course.

The brand damage is already done. The body cam footage is out there. Whatever ultimately happens in court won’t change the public’s perception on the matter. Everyone already saw Romo at a very regrettable moment in his life.

Where this now gets tricky for CBS is if Romo’s legal issues are resolved without any admission of guilt. Whether they’d still have standing to remove him under the morals clause in his contract is unclear. But that’s aside from the point. CBS has done nothing to indicate they want Romo to return and, in fact, by citing the network’s brand and image, have essentially already thrown him under the bus. They’ve told him, without saying, that he’s damaged the CBS brand to a point where they could not put him on the air for Week 1 this season.

The outcome of Romo’s court proceedings might have more to do with how much of his $72 million contract he’s able to claw back from CBS, and less to do with whether he’ll ever return to the network’s airwaves. Because once you suggest someone’s presence is hurting your brand’s image, it’s hard to put that genie back in the bottle.