Jim Nantz comes to Tony Romo’s defense over media ‘cheap shots’
When an NFL quarterback takes a hit, a lot can be gleaned from how his teammates come to his defense.
Jim Nantz has heard the recent criticism- even from industry insiders- of former Cowboys passer Tony Romo for his work in the CBS Sports booth, and he was quick to pick up his broadcast partner and voice his own undying support.
“Tony is the best,” Nantz said on the SI Media with Jimmy Traina podcast. “He’s the absolute best. And he’s also one of my best friends. I love the guy. And when somebody starts questioning our chemistry, there’s an agenda there. There is nothing wrong with our chemistry. I have never had better chemistry with anybody in my career than Tony.”
That’s saying something, coming from the longtime play-by-play man who’s been in the biz since the mid-1980s. His comments on Romo came after a whirlwind stretch that saw the 63-year-old go from covering his final NCAA men’s basketball tournament to calling The Masters in a span measured in days.
No stranger to being the voice for the biggest moments in sports, Nantz admitted he was confused by the recent backlash against Romo. The ex-Cowboy went from the playing field directly to the A-team for CBS in 2017, and impressed hardcore fans and casual observers alike with his color commentary that blended a keen eye for football detail with an everyman excitability.
But by the the 2022 postseason, many had accused Romo of falling into lazy on-air habits and not doing his homework on teams. A report even surfaced in early February claiming that the network had staged an “intervention” with the 42-year-old regarding his job performance.
CBS later called that “a complete mischaracterization,” but the suggestion was out there that Romo had been phoning it in.
Nantz pushed back against that notion.
“I think there was a little bit of a misinformation attempt there to portray him in a not-so-favorable light,” he said on the podcast. “It was very disappointing. It really got, to me, more steam after the AFC championship game, which was our last game. And for the life of me, I didn’t understand it…
“We’re doing games during the season, like Buffalo-Kansas City; not a whimper. By the way, those were playoff ratings,” he continued. “We did a Thanksgiving Day game, which was the most-watched game of the year, I think, in the regular season. One or two, anyway. We had the Christmas afternoon game, 100% national, gigantic audience. We didn’t do any of these games in January any different than we did during the regular season. So why all of a sudden are people taking cheap shots? I don’t get it.”
In a society that’s quick to build someone up, put them on a pedestal as the next big thing, and then ferociously tear them back down just as publicly, Nantz believes his booth partner offers fans something rare that makes their games more enjoyable to consume on Sundays in the fall.
“Tony is amazing,” Nantz said. “Don’t ask everybody to be the same, by the way. Tony does it his own way. I’m talking presentation and everything. Tony has his way of watching a game. It’s fun. There’s a magnetism with Tony. There’s an excitement. It’s real. Our friendship is real.
“I have so much respect for him and what he’s done and what he’s done to elevate the excitement of the NFL.”
