Tony Romo may want to turn his phone off for the foreseeable future. The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and CBS Sports’ polarizing lead NFL game analyst was arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence in Milwaukee last week.
Romo, a Wisconsin native, “performed poorly on field sobriety tests,” according to the Associated Press. He was booked and released, and he won’t have to appear in court until Sept. 21. Nobody was harmed. Romo will likely only receive a minor fine for the civil offense citation, per WAOW 9 News.
In today’s news cycle, Romo should have been in the clear by now.
But then TMZ published bodycam video of Romo’s arrest and field sobriety test, which quickly went viral, and now, the California Post has published an exclusive report of its own.
“The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office released to the California Post copies of three citations its officers hit Romo with in the immediate aftermath of his July 23 arrest in Wisconsin, and one of them claimed the CBS NFL analyst had an ‘open bottle of an alcoholic beverage’ located on the passenger side of his black Jeep,” Edward Lewis wrote for the Post.
The two other citations are “unsafe passing on the right” and “operating while under the influence.” Combined, Romo is facing a $1,568 fine.
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Tony Romo told cops he was on his way to meet his grandma and grandpa when he was pulled over and ultimately busted for OWI … newly released body camera footage shows. pic.twitter.com/visfkPfxGT
— TMZ (@TMZ) July 29, 2026
During the field sobriety test, Romo struggled to comprehend the directions, commented on his lingering ailments from playing in the NFL, and couldn’t stop nervously rambling.
Romo refused to do a preliminary breath test (PBT), saying, “Oh, no, we’re not doing that. I’ve already heard from all the lawyers don’t ever do that.” The officer asked him to turn around. Romo asked, “Did I pass this test?” Reality set in, and he added, “No, I didn’t, huh?” before getting handcuffed.
As of Tuesday, July 28, the Daily Mail reported that “CBS bosses will not fire Tony Romo from his $18 million-a-year NFL analyst role following his arrest last week,” despite speculation that CBS could use this as an excuse to part ways with the increasingly unpopular Romo.
An unnamed source told the outlet that Romo “might step back a little, short term, but he isn’t going anywhere long term. That wouldn’t make any sense for us at all.”
An unnamed CBS executive added, “I don’t want to act like it’s not a big deal, because it is. But it’s not going to get him fired.”
Romo has shared CBS’ top NFL booth with Jim Nantz since 2017. The former quarterback often faces heavy criticism for his performance in the booth, but this is now his most humiliating episode as a public figure.
About Megan Armstrong
Since first getting published as a student by the Kansas City Star in 2013, Megan Armstrong has gone wherever curiosity and stories have taken her, specializing in sports, media, music, and culture coverage. She also has an extensive background in interviewing and profiling public figures. Her work has appeared in Billboard, Boardroom, Bleacher Report, Esquire, GQ, GRAMMY.com, NYLON, Newsweek, Teen Vogue, The Hollywood Reporter, UPROXX, and elsewhere.