Putting Tony Romo in the commentator’s booth has been one of the best things anyone tangent to the NFL has done this season. Romo is smart and genuine. You can tell he likes the game of football itself. Frequently, he seems to forget he’s a media member and slips into quarterback mode, narrating everything he sees as the player he was just a year ago.
Romo can make even bad plays exciting as a result. Case in point: Here’s a play that no one will remember after tonight, an incomplete pass just before the Patriots scored their third touchdown against the Titans on Saturday.
Romo says out loud what’s likely going through Tom Brady’s head in the moment (and what likely was going through Romo’s head in similar situations when he was with the Cowboys). The Patriots get the Titans to show they’re in man coverage by splitting running back James White outside, then motioning him inside. When the linebacker follows White, tight end Rob Gronkowski motions wide to give himself a plum matchup.
Then the Patriots motion the safety away from Gronk, and Romo gets really excited.
“Oh boy.”
Romo says “better get over there, Cyprien,” referring to the Titans’ Johnathan Cyprien. And indeed, Cyprien sprints over to double cover Gronkowski and perhaps prevent a touchdown.
Romo was spot-on the entire time. That’s the best part about watching any game that he calls: He still is a quarterback, and he gets us to view the game through the same eyes as the quarterbacks on the field, from Brady to Blake Bortles. We get to live a little more vicariously through the players on the field, adding a layer to the TV experience that very few (if any?) sports announcers are able to do.
Oh, and he’s not afraid to call out teams on their B.S.
"WHAT ARE THEY DOING?" Tony Romo sums it up perfectly.
— Melissa Jacobs (@thefootballgirl) January 14, 2018
Let Tony Romo announce every game, please.