After regularly being doubted during his playing career, Tony Romo now finds himself having to answer similar questions as a broadcaster.
Earlier this year, Fox Sports Radio host and founder of The Volume podcast network Colin Cowherd blamed Romo’s recent regression as a broadcaster on his affinity for golf. Cowherd, who once infamously criticized Romo for wearing a backwards hat, added that he wouldn’t hire anyone who loves golf because the sport becomes an addiction. This week, Cowherd joined Ethan Sherwood Strauss on his House of Strauss podcast. When asked about his golf take, the radio host doubled down.
“Tony Romo, sometimes I would listen to him. And my take listening, judging him as a broadcaster was, sometimes in these more boring, ugly games, he didn’t sound entirely prepared,” Cowherd told Strauss. “Like he prepared for a two-and-a-half-hour battle, and it was a four-hour awful game. He sounds like sometimes he’s just ad-libbing a lot. Where there’s other guys, I feel like you can hear the homework, you can hear the diligence, you can hear the work.”
“So I kind of theorized, Romo’s a golf addict. He can choose looking at the Titans’ two-deeps or going out and putting in the backyard for 90 minutes every night in Dallas. I got some pushback, I think, on it. I think Tony does a really good job. But through my career, I’m aware of the best handicaps in our industry.”
When Romo became a broadcaster in 2017, he set the sports media world ablaze with his infectious enthusiasm and ability to predict plays on the field before they happen. But in recent years, and last season especially, many fans started to find Romo’s enthusiasm to be infectiously annoying and his analysis lacking in substance.
Romo has responded to some of the backlash, claiming “you can’t please everyone.” He’s been defended by some colleagues and executives as well, including booth partner Jim Nantz and CBS Sports president Sean McManus. But he hasn’t answered to Cowherd hypothesizing that his love of golf is impeding on his work at CBS. However, the former Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback remains under contract with CBS through 2030, giving him plenty of time to either win back some of his recent critics or keep perfecting his golf swing.
