While Tony Romo received mixed reviews for his call of Super Bowl LVIII for CBS, most seem to agree that his call of the Kansas City Chiefs’ game-winning touchdown in overtime missed the mark.
After Patrick Mahomes found Mecole Hardman for a 3-yard walk off touchdown to complete a dramatic comeback and secure the Chiefs’ status as an ongoing dynasty — and add to his resume as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time — Romo trampled all over the moments that followed.
“This was the Andy Reid special!” the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback proclaimed. “This was the Andy Reid special we talked about he was saving all day. He’s gonna fake a motion to go across and at that moment he turns into his back. Hardman, who they didn’t have, right? And they go get Hardman and bring him back and the game-winning drive of Mahomes’ career he’s been waiting for, he’s never had it in an overtime. He is the best, he is the standard and Michael Jordan wins it again.”
THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS WITH THE SUPER BOWL!
(And Tony Romo does a lot of talking/yelling) 🏈📺🎙️ #SuperBowlLVIII pic.twitter.com/ScQ2D3ByYq
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 12, 2024
Although Romo’s breakdown of the game-winning touchdown was appreciated, it also didn’t need to happen immediately after the play occurred. Doubly so for Romo’s rambling regarding Kansas City reacquiring Hardman at the trade deadline and Mahomes engineering the overtime drive, which served as the soundtrack to shots of Chiefs players and coaches celebrating and the 49ers suffering the agony of defeat.
But while Romo’s call was how most viewers in the United States experienced the Super Bowl’s final play, that wasn’t the case elsewhere. Taking to X on Tuesday, Pat McAfee shared Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick’s call of the final play for the ESPN International broadcast in Australia and New Zealand.
Man… @cbfowler, @danorlovsky7, & @LRiddickESPN made this feel BIG.
WHAT A MOMENT https://t.co/vi85vi3GMe
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 13, 2024
Unlike Romo’s call, this one was more difficult to transcribe, as both Riddick and Orlovsky largely let the moment sink in following Fowler’s call of the play.
“Unbelievable,” Riddick said.
“He’s the best player I’ve ever seen in my life,” Orlovsky added, in reference to Mahomes.
And that was it.
While McAfee didn’t mention Romo in any form in his post, it was impossible to view the ESPN International call of the play without comparing it CBS’s. Considering the magnitude of the moment, less was certainly more in this instance, as the sound of the crowd’s reaction and the Chiefs’ celebration said more than any words from the broadcast booth could.
In Romo’s defense, every broadcaster is unique and you only get a split-second to decide how you’re going to react. Unfortunately, when it comes to what will be remembered as one of the most famous plays in Super Bowl history, the call that most people heard was not the superior one. Orlovsky has been open about his ambition to be a top game analyst for a major network. And in this instance, his final call of the Super Bowl met the gravity of the moment in a way that the one viewed by 123 million people did not.
