The broadcast career of Tony Romo burst onto the scene in 2017 with almost the same fanfare as The Beatles, almost instantaneously being viewed as the top NFL television analyst.
The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback won near-universal praise in his debut, and that acclaim only grew as his first two seasons working alongside Jim Nantz continued. You simply couldn't watch a late afternoon AFC game on CBS in 2017, 2018, and well into 2019 without looking at Twitter and watching fans heap praise upon the color analyst.
However, fans have soured on Romo. Heck, Dick Ebersol -- who claimed the CBS Sports analyst 'is like a son to me' -- soured on Romo before walking back those comments.
Fans fell in love with Romo's ability to call out plays before they took place, utilizing formations, situations, and personnel to accurately predict what viewers were about to see. Those Romostradomus revelations began to be more scarce. Now if you watch any of his work, a Sasquatch sighting is more likely than a play prediction.
While pondering the question of what happened to Romo, I can't help but wonder if fans viewing habits changed. Similarly to ESPN changing the way it covered the NFL Draft by not "tipping their pitches", I wonder if fans grew tired of the event being spoiled before it happened as reason for the turn against Romo.
I don't think that's the case.
So, why has Tony Romo gone from the virtually undisputed top NFL analyst to now being viewed as run-of-the-mill or even second-rate?
In my estimation, it's a pretty simple reason: He's no longer recently departed from the game.
Romo's final season really playing in the NFL is working on a decade ago. I'm not here to say the game has passed Romo by because I don't think that's remotely the case, but I do believe the game has shifted enough that Romo can't simply look out at the field, see the offensive personnel, assess the situation, and have a reasonable enough assumption of what's about to happen. And that's not an indictment on him as much as it's a shift by NFL coaches.
Do you have any idea how many times you used to see a team run a play-action pass on 3rd and 7? Entirely too often, because who in the hell do you think you're fooling by pretending you're going to run on 3rd and 7. But offensive coordinators have removed their heads from their orifices and have made being unpredictable a priority.
Many analysts, the longer they get away from their competition days, experience the same issues. As a NASCAR fan, I can't tell you how many Sundays I sat and watched the recently retired Jeff Gordon correct Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip because Gordon simply had a more recent and relevant experience in what he was seeing.
During my work as a local radio host, we used to have an analyst come on our show and give his opinion on Ohio State. He was a starter on the offensive line of the 1968 National Championship team, and he was knowledgeable on many things...but the way offensive football was played in the late 2010s wasn't one of them.
And -- not to that extent -- I think that's the case with Romo. During his final year as the starter in Dallas, it would have been preposterous for an NFL offense to mimic that of a college spread offense. Now? Jalen Hurts rushed for 15 touchdowns this season and Kyler Murray spent more time in 10 personnel than any other quarterback in NFL history. Romo -- who was known as one of the more mobile QBs in his era -- had 238 career rushes. In less than three full seasons as a starter, Hurts has 367 carries. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison, but it truly does showcase just how drastically offensive football in the NFL has changed since Romo hung it up.
Last week, 92.3 The Fan's Ken Carman posited that Romo is only showing up on the day of the game and discussing what he sees. I have no idea if that's true, but the way others -- like Ebersol -- have talked, it seems like that could be the truth. And if you're facing charges of not being prepared, that's a tough pill to swallow both from Romo's perspective and also as a viewer. However, it's also one of the easiest ailments to remedy.
What happened to Tony Romo? Our viewing habits changed, as well as the popularity of criticizing announcers grew, but the game has changed ever so slightly, and it's a big enough change that he hasn't been able to adjust. But like a player who showed flashes of greatness, that ability is still there, he just apparently needs it drawn out of him once more.
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