During last week’s wild-card game between the Bills and Jaguars, the Twitter pitchforks were out for CBS lead analyst Tony Romo. Expect more of the same on Saturday, with the Bills facing the Broncos on CBS.
As explained by Michael McCarthy of FrontOfficeSports.com, CBS isn’t swayed by the criticism. If anything, CBS is pissed.
“It’s much ado about nothing,” an unnamed source told McCarthy.
Did Romo have his best game last week? No. Did he have his worst? No. (Romo told Adam Schein during the week that he was sick.) He’s not much different now than he was when he was viewed as a breath of fresh air during his 2017 debut, as the replacement for Phil Simms in the top CBS booth with Jim Nantz.
That year, Romo developed a reputation for picking plays. Other analysts with the benefit of attending practice and production meetings privately grumbled that it was more parlor trick than prestidigitation. Romo had, and still has, inside knowledge about what may be coming based on down, distance, and formation.
Beyond no longer tipping plays, Romo generally seems to be no different now than he was then. He didn’t change; the tastes of some in the audience did.
Then there’s the ability for anyone/everyone to have a voice on social media. Imagine how badly Howard Cosell would have been dragged if Twitter was around when he was doing his thing.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. No one watches a big game for the broadcaster, and no one turns off a big game because of the broadcaster. For Romo, the simple fact is that, once the playoffs roll around and he’s calling the only game that’s on, the audiences will be massive. Allowing a vocal minority who subjectively dislikes a style that was largely the same nearly a decade ago to log on, and pop off.