Tony Romo makes inexplicably weird noise during Bills-Chiefs broadcast

Tony Romo couldn’t help himself Sunday afternoon.

The NFL on CBS announcer was trying to explain why a defensive holding call on Buffalo Bills cornerback Cole Bishop had nullified a Buffalo sack of Patrick Mahomes. He circled two possible infractions on the replay and started with “I think it was…” before trailing off, clearly struggling to identify what Bishop had actually done wrong.

Instead of finishing the thought or turning it over to rules analyst Gene Steratore, who could have at least added some clarity to the ticky-tack call, Romo made a noise. What kind of noise is up for interpretation. It lasted roughly two seconds and can best be described as something between a grunt, a groan, and the sound you might hear walking past an occupied bathroom stall.

Does someone want to check on Tony Romo??? pic.twitter.com/lp0wnbv9eh

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 2, 2025

“But, I saw it on the other side as well, so you’ve got to call it,” Romo eventually continued, as if the noise had never happened.

Romo’s made plenty of odd sounds during his eight seasons in the CBS booth. He’s tried to imitate birds during Baltimore Ravens broadcasts. He’s made inexplicable yelps during playoff games. There’s an entire cottage industry built around cataloging his various grunts, groans, and other vocalizations that have nothing to do with football analysis.

This one might be the strangest yet, mostly because it came in the middle of what was supposed to be some actual analysis. Romo was genuinely trying to break down a penalty, couldn’t figure out what he was looking at or for, and instead of admitting he didn’t know or asking Steratore for help, he just… made a noise and moved on.

CBS pays Romo $17 million per year for moments like this. Whether that’s money well spent depends on how much you value inexplicable sounds during Sunday afternoon football.