Tony Romo stepped on one of the best Super Bowl endings in NFL history, but Jim Nantz has no issue with his CBS partner’s enthusiastic input.
Nantz was The Main Event on Andrew Marchand’s sports media podcast this week and the iconic CBS announcer was asked about Romo’s Super Bowl LVIII performance, particularly on the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
CLIP: I criticized the final call of Jim Nantz/Tony Romo Super Bowl, I asked Nantz about it.
FULL POD: Sign-up and listen at https://t.co/yRnHUdymId pic.twitter.com/C5H7Yzc0NB
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) September 5, 2024
“I felt good about the call and Tony’s enthusiasm,” Nantz said. “Tony is enthusiastic, that’s who he is. It’s all organic, he’s like a big kid. I’m gonna never say anything about Tony that would be misunderstood by anyone. I just chalk it up to the excitement of the moment and that four-hour broadcast, I watched it last night, he was sensational. And if people want to nitpick and boil down four hours into one 15-second stretch, I don’t think that’s the right way to do it.”
Nantz’s call was great. The problem, however, was that the call began with Romo, it was interrupted by Romo and it ended with Romo.
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
“Jackpot Kansas City,” Nantz said after Patrick Mahomes threw a touchdown to Mecole Hardman to win Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas. Nantz laid out, seemingly prepared to let the moment breath, but Romo would have none of it, jumping right in to immediately and incessantly break down the play.
A lot of Romo’s antics in the booth can just be explained as ‘Tony being Tony’ or chalked up to his enthusiasm and excitement for the game. But if Romo was ever going to show some restraint in the booth, giving Nantz some space to control a game-winning call in the Super Bowl should have been it.
Romo’s overall performance during Super Bowl LVIII was solid. But with the lure of Romo fading in recent years due to his fans growing tired of his often-over-the-top enthusiasm, people were undoubtedly prepared to find reasons to criticize the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback. In fact, if Romo had this same Super Bowl performance five years ago, it probably would have drawn rave reviews, except for the final play. Romo stepping on Nantz’s final call of Super Bowl LVIII would have been criticized even at the height of his popularity.
