Tony Romo has analyzed plays for CBS Sports since 2017. Now heโs considering a new one, in which he hopes the network allows him to return following a run-in with the law.
Romo on Tuesday said he pleaded no contest to a charge of operating while intoxicated stemming from an incident that took place in Milwaukee in July, and expressed hope in a statement that heโd be able to resume his NFL duties for the Paramount Skydance broadcast network. CBS Sports placed the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback on leave after he was arrested following a traffic stop made on Interstate 43 in Wisconsin.
CBS has not commented on the situation since sports chief David Berson said last month that the company had no timeline for Romoโs return, and wanted to put its focus on promoting its NFL slate. CBS Sports has tapped JJ Watt to pick up duties alongside regulars Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson when the networkโs first Sunday football telecast takes place September 13.
โThe past month has been difficult, but it has also been personally significant,โ Romo said via a statement released on social mediaย โIt has required me to confront and own my mistakes fully โ to the Lord, to myself, to my family and now to the public.โ
He cited multiple back surgeries that spurred his retirement from the NFL as a factor in the incident, noting they โleft me with constant, debilitating painโ which โled to a dependence on pain medication, and my efforts to get off those medications led to an over-reliance on alcohol.โ
โNone of this is an excuse,โ Romo said. โThese are my failures and I take responsibility for them.โ
Romo, whose deal with CBS was valued in 2020 at about $17 million per year, has been an instrumental part of the companyโs roster of sports talent, and the companyโs decision to put him on leave could have consequences beyond who will call the opening game in CBSโ next season of telecasting professional football in the afternoon. The NFL has already held preliminary talks with CBS parent Paramount Skydance, according to two people familiar with the matter, about certain terms of a new rights deal. The change of control of the company, which is backed by the Ellison family, who bought Paramount from longtime owner Shari Redstone, triggered the leagueโs ability to discuss terms.
CBS, like Fox, NBCUniversal, Disney and Amazon,ย is in the middle of an 11-year pact with the NFLย that will keep games tied to those companies through 2033. The challenge? The league has an option that allows it to renegotiate terms with most of the companies after 2029, and with Disney after 2030.
Romo only had experience on the field when he joined CBS Sports in 2017 as the lead game analyst on the networkโs popular โNFL on CBS.โ Behind the scenes, however, Romo worked with CBS football producer Jim Rikhoff to find his footing in the studio. โWe rehearsed different games, old games, took the audio off, did a lot of trial and error, until we found his voice,โย Rikhoff toldย Varietyย in 2019.ย โHeโs experienced and talks about the games in ways that most people understand,โ he said. โIt really feels authentic. I try to stay out of his way and give him as much leeway as I can.โ
Romoโs acumen for predicting game play drew notice almost immediately, and lent new polish to a broadcast that has been around since the days of Brent Musburger and Pat Summerall.
Romo said he has enlisted doctors to help him โmake the necessary changesโ for his well-being. โAs I turn my attention to my health, my family, and, in time, my return to CBS, I kindly ask for privacy during this period,โ Romo added. Given the importance of NFL games to the business of CBS and the popularity of the game among American audiences, itโs not clear heโll get it.
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