CBS Sports has placed Tony Romo on leave “until further notice” following the former Cowboys quarterback’s arrest in Wisconsin last week, the network said Friday in a statement.
Former Houston Texans star J.J. Watt will fill CBS Sports’ lead NFL analyst role and join Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson on the broadcast team during Romo’s absence, the network said.
The arrest report indicated Romo took a standard field sobriety test, with the arresting officer writing that Romo performed “poorly.” Romo was booked into Milwaukee County Jail and promptly released. No criminal charges have been filed as of Friday morning.
Body camera footage of Romo’s interactions with law enforcement officials obtained by The Dallas Morning News show Romo was pulled over for “unsafe passing on the right” and “lane deviation.” Romo provided his driver’s license and phone number to the police officer before he was asked how many drinks he had. The officer later asked if she could put Romo through field sobriety tests, and he responded by saying he wanted to call his lawyer.
Romo was then asked to step out of his vehicle and was placed in handcuffs. Another body cam video shows Romo refusing to take an initial breathalyzer test, saying he “heard from all the lawyers, don’t ever do that.”
Romo, a Wisconsin native, went to high school about 35 miles from Milwaukee in Burlington. He was in Milwaukee golfing in the Wisconsin Amateur Championship at the West Bend Country Club.
A court date for Romo is still scheduled for Sept. 21 in Milwaukee. Romo has not publicly commented since the arrest.
Romo spent his entire 13-year NFL career with the Cowboys. He went from an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Illinois to becoming the all-time passing leader in Cowboys’ history. Dak Prescott, his heir apparent, passed that record this past season.
Romo has worked as the lead color analyst for CBS Sports since 2017. He reportedly signed a 10-year, $180 million extension with the network in 2020.
Romo wasn’t expected to have his first game until the opening Sunday of the NFL regular season on Sept. 13. CBS likely will reveal its game assignments and announcer pairings for the first three weeks of the regular season in the next couple of weeks.
Staff writers Joseph Hoyt and Sally Avila Edwards and The Associated Press contributed to this post.