Tony Romo: A Place for Ribbing & Word Salad

joe dokes

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My father does it, which I do find odd.

There have been many times I've put the Patriots radio broadcast on and muted the TV if I can get them synced up. I won't watch on Mute though.
I've watched quite a few 4pm games on mute over the years because the usual TV is near the kitchen. If my wife is going to be cooking while I'm sitting on my ass, muting the TV and putting on music seems fair.
 

Van Everyman

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At least he used to take a stance, he hedges half the time now.

"Jim, you definitely have to go for it here, no question!"

Offense lines up

"Jim, this is a great situation to try to get them to jump, take a timeout and punt! Let's see what they do!!!!"
I agree, Romo kind of basks in taking a stance now and then is wrong like most of the time it seems and kind of laughs it off. So his initial read is kind of meaningless.

Based on the podcast I linked upthread (which is totally worth watching) it seems that Romo’s biggest problem is that he isn’t putting in the work and is kind of leaning on his charm, enthusiasm and football knowledge from game to game which means less the further he gets from his playing career. Hate him or love him, Collinsworth has a legendary work ethic.
 

DJnVa

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Hint: most, if not all, of them don’t.
Okay. If you say so.

I got used to watching games at a sports bar with all the games on, which means I'm not getting audio from the game I'm focusing on. I know enough about sports to watch and know what's going on without broadcasters describing what I'm watching.

There's also no pbp when I'm at a live sporting event and somehow I manage that too.
 

joe dokes

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I got used to watching games at a sports bar with all the games on, which means I'm not getting audio from the game I'm focusing on. I know enough about sports to watch and know what's going on without broadcasters describing what I'm watching.
It's also pretty easy to keep up, given the stream of on-screen info.
Back in the day, the arrow painted on the field near the numbers to let you know which end of the field the offense was playing in was a huge advancement.

Now if you'll excuse me, the rabbit ears need some adjustin'.
 

Rusty Gate

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He talks too much sometimes, but I don't mind Romo at all and I mostly appreciate the enthusiasm.

I don't care for Nantz at all though.

I do think their on air chemistry has gotten worse over time and recognize that it is probably Romo's fault. But Nantz still sucks.
I agree with this post entirely except that Nantz deserves way more of the blame. The other top play by play guys make the analyst shine by playing to their strengths and engaging interestingly with them. Nantz is too egotistical to do that. He seems to be just waiting for the moment to slip in his next clever little wordplay. CBS should have intervened with the two of them, not just Romo. They should try Romo with a different play by play guy. A thoughtful low-key guy like Burkhardt would be perfect. In fact, if Romo and Olsen switched booths, I think we would be praising Romo and wondering why we thought Olsen was so good.
 

Van Everyman

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I agree with this post entirely except that Nantz deserves way more of the blame. The other top play by play guys make the analyst shine by playing to their strengths and engaging interestingly with them. Nantz is too egotistical to do that. He seems to be just waiting for the moment to slip in his next clever little wordplay. CBS should have intervened with the two of them, not just Romo. They should try Romo with a different play by play guy. A thoughtful low-key guy like Burkhardt would be perfect. In fact, if Romo and Olsen switched booths, I think we would be praising Romo and wondering why we thought Olsen was so good.
Marchand in that podcast said that Nantz's ego is why he is the one who runs down to the field to present the Lamar Hunt trophy instead of giving the opportunity to someone like Tracy. Nantz being a shithead is almost certainly part of the problem.
 

Phil Plantier

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If you have surround sound: turn off the center speaker, then you get all the audience noise without the commentators.

I'm wrong about almost everything, but I could see that Romo would get the full Phil Simms experience: interesting at first but then turned into a joke by both hubris and network notes.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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Oof, please no. The gimmick booth began and ended with Dennis Miller.

What sports needs are a PBP and color commentator duos with solid chemistry, a color person who doesn't verbal diarrhea, and people who've done their homework and are putting in the effort to actively inform the viewer. No more stories about how Sean Payton ribbed Tony over his golf game!

I think one of the biggest issues is the wooden PBP guys who suck the energy out of the room. It must be so difficult to mesh with a Nantz or a Joe Davis (how tf is this guy the head Fox PBP guy????). Look at Aikman and Buck. Buck has a good sense of humor and he meshes beautifully with Aikman who clearly does his homework and is always dropping informative nuggets of info that makes the broadcast better. Unfortunately, it seems to be an industry-wide issue that whoever is shopping for the on-air talent groceries sucks at their job.

(I agree with the above poster who says that Brady is going to be terrible, too. I'll be pleasantly surprised if that's not the case.)
 

mr_smith02

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He is simply trying too hard at this point and he is not a professional broadcaster.

I remember seeing an interview with Al Michaels about his call of the 1980 Miracle on Ice game and I was impressed with how he just instinctively knew to just stop talking and let people take in the moments after the game had ended.

Romo has lost the ability to just shut up and let the moments on the field speak for themselves as they often are more poetic than any speaker will be, especially a former sub-par quarterback who's trying to impressive someone.
 

Remagellan

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I don't hate Romo, but I also usually pay little attention to any of the broadcasters when I watch a game. However, I did rewatch last year's AFC Championship, and Romo said some moronic things on the last Chiefs' drive. They got a first and goal at the 5 down three points with 1:30 left, the Bengals called their second TO, and Romo said the Chiefs should try to bleed more time before scoring their touchdown. The Chiefs run for a yard, and the Bengals call their last TO with 1:26, and Romo suggested that the Chiefs run again and tell the runner to go down at the 1 instead of scoring to bleed more clock. Really? Instead of worrying about reducing their opportunities to win the game to one play, the Chiefs should worry about giving the Bengals a minute and no TOs needing a TD to reclaim the lead? How about just scoring the fricking touchdown and taking the lead, Tony?

The Bengals showed how absurd Romo's thinking was by sacking Mahomes on back-to-back plays, the second one forcing a fumble that almost ended the game there were it not for a KC recovery and subsequent game-tying FG.

Romo commentary on that drive was as asinine as his commentary on the Pats OT drive in the 2018 season AFC Championship was astute.
 

NortheasternPJ

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He is simply trying too hard at this point and he is not a professional broadcaster.

I remember seeing an interview with Al Michaels about his call of the 1980 Miracle on Ice game and I was impressed with how he just instinctively knew to just stop talking and let people take in the moments after the game had ended.

Romo has lost the ability to just shut up and let the moments on the field speak for themselves as they often are more poetic than any speaker will be, especially a former sub-par quarterback who's trying to impressive someone.
Toucher and Rich brought this exact example up this morning. "Imagine if Tony Romo was there for the Miracle on Ice final call" and was just blathering on like a complete idiot.
 

mr_smith02

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Toucher and Rich brought this exact example up this morning. "Imagine if Tony Romo was there for the Miracle on Ice final call" and was just blathering on like a complete idiot.
Exactly!

I think it goes both ways sometimes too. I remember listening to a Sox/Yankees game a few years back on YES network. It was late in the game and had really started to rain when Michael Kay started blathering on about Big Papi sliding the bat between his legs to try to dry it off. Paul O'Neill finally interrupted him and said, "And, when's the last time you took a Major League at-bat, Michael?" I cannot stand either guy, but I did appreciate the on-field, real-life perspective O'Neill brought to the subsequent conversation.
 

Bergs

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I enjoyed Romo at first, but good lord, he just needs to shut the fuck up sometimes.
I find it wild that people get worked up about people that call national games. They barely matter.
I find it weird that people watch football games on TV without being distracted by mindfuckingly stupid babbling by incompetent color guys. I envy you.
 

snowmanny

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I've never cared for Romo, but in addition to the word salad and goofy enthusiasm, I'm amazed at the number of times he's just wrong. He'll be like, "Ooooh, the QB had that receiver open for a TD if he just saw him!" and the reply will show double coverage on the guy.
My favorite was the Bucs/Saints game where Brady got the ball back down 6 with around 2:20 left and one timeout. And Romo says something ridiculous like “time left for five plays!” Brady wins the game with like fifteen seconds left and a timeout in his pocket on the eleventh play of the drive.
 

glennhoffmania

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I find it weird that people watch football games on TV without being distracted by mindfuckingly stupid babbling by incompetent color guys. I envy you.
Yeah, same here. I don't want to watch a game in silence, and I don't know how someone can tune out an announcer who never shuts the fuck up for three hours.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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I constantly go back to SB36. It's Madden and Summerall just talking through the whole drive. Nobody's yelling, nobody's freaking out, moments are allowed to breathe, including the Brown catch and the final kick.

You need to be able to modulate. Romo can't or won't. Maybe it's an experience thing. I think his voice is grating as well (in a similar way to Collinsworth actually). Maybe he can develop more gravitas.

edit: When Madden says "What Tom Brady just did gives me goosebumps" it gives me goosebumps. Again, maybe that kind of gravitas has to be earned.
 

Van Everyman

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I constantly go back to SB36. It's Madden and Summerall just talking through the whole drive. Nobody's yelling, nobody's freaking out, moments are allowed to breathe, including the Brown catch and the final kick.

You need to be able to modulate. Romo can't or won't. Maybe it's an experience thing. I think his voice is grating as well (in a similar way to Collinsworth actually). Maybe he can develop more gravitas.

edit: When Madden says "What Tom Brady just did gives me goosebumps" it gives me goosebumps. Again, maybe that kind of gravitas has to be earned.
I was never a big Madden guy, even at his peak I thought his telestrator stuff wasn't that insightful or interesting. Also, by 2002, Summerall was virtually catatonic on air (that SB was his last game) so it's not entirely surprising he wasn't filling the airwaves with words.

That said, the goosebumps line was awesome and an all-timer for sure.
 

54thMA

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I’ll take him over the smug arrogance of Chris Collnsworth any day.
One of my greatest joys as a Patriots fan was how gutted he was when Seattle lost to the Patriots, he was genuinely pissed.............."I CAN'T BELIEVE THE CALL!!".......he sounded like one of the 12's.

This from a guy who when he was on Inside the NFL predicted the Giants would defeat the Patriots in the Super Bowl and then said "And when it happens, I want Eli Manning to walk across the field, hand Belichick the ball and tell him 'Stick THAT in your trophy case!!"..........

So, fuck that guy, I can't stand him.

Romo for me went from entertaining to annoying, thanks to him Mahomes has the cleanest junk in the NFL.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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I think Romo's fine. Hes taken a step back, which sucks, but hes leagues above listening to Dierdorf and shit.
 

bankshot1

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The first year Romo was very good and seemed almost prescient analyzing what he thought was going to happen. He was a cut above.

IMO he's backslid since, and the past year it seems he talks for the sake of talking, and generally out of both sides of his mouth to cover all contingencies, which generally leads to meaningless gibberish.And when paired with Nantz makes for a diminished viewing experience.

I think Buck and Aikman are the current gold standard.
 

mauidano

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I wonder how much prep he puts into games he's going to call?

You see pictures of Chris Fowler putting in time studying massive notes.
 

jose melendez

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I still like Romo. I like his enthusiasim, and I still feel like he tells me who on the field other than the QB to watch a lot.

I have never like Nantz. He's somehow smarmy and milquetoast at the same time.

Also, I can just imagine him talking about how blacks, Jews and women don't belong at Augusta national.
 

johnmd20

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The distinct lack of Jim Nantz hate in this thread is SoSH's lowest moment.

Nobody is keeping their eye on the ball.
 

glennhoffmania

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I still like Romo. I like his enthusiasim, and I still feel like he tells me who on the field other than the QB to watch a lot.

I have never like Nantz. He's somehow smarmy and milquetoast at the same time.

Also, I can just imagine him talking about how blacks, Jews and women don't belong at Augusta national.
Nantz may be the best example of someone who has no business getting the gigs he's had yet continues to still be the headline guy on a major network. It's baffled me for years. He can't keep up with any fast moving moment. He's fine at golf, but when he has done basketball or football it's painful.

And I knew someone who used to work with him and he's apparently a huge asshole off camera. So there's absolutely nothing to like.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nantz may be the best example of someone who has no business getting the gigs he's had yet continues to still be the headline guy on a major network. It's baffled me for years. He can't keep up with any fast moving moment. He's fine at golf, but when he has done basketball or football it's painful.

And I knew someone who used to work with him and he's apparently a huge asshole off camera. So there's absolutely nothing to like.
Of course he's an egotistical prick. The whole Tie thing at the NCAA Final Four just shows how self absorbed he is.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/jim-nantz-final-four-tie-national-championship-game-ryan-arcidiacono/1k1k9waa07dqr1e8sqwqdcz3wy

A tradition unlike any other — because it's weird, surreally egotistical and, well, so very Jim Nantz.

Nantz, who is CBS's lead announcer on the NCAA Tournament because he always has been, apparently gives the tie he wears during the national championship game to one player every year. This year's lucky recipient of a discarded garment? Villanova senior — it's always a senior because, of course — Ryan Arcidiacono.

Let Nantz explain it himself: "It's a personal Final Four tradition. The tie symbolizes a lot to me. My father, who taught me to tie a tie. I just felt, years ago, that I wanted to do something to honor a senior on the team that wins the title, to give them something to bring home. I bring a new tie to the game every year, and I find a player who I'm inspired by everything about them. What they do on the floor, what they do in the classroom. That was an easy one tonight."
 

johnmd20

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I got your back. See above.
I literally just did.
I'm genuinely appreciative.

Romo is fine. I'll eat all the word salads in the world, and chomp the shit out of it. But Nantz is a jerk and smug and, also, extremely awful at his actual job of calling a football game.(and he's truly execrable during the Masters) I have no idea how he gets the PRIME gigs he gets, but he obviously knows where the bodies are buried.
 

TheGazelle

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I'm genuinely appreciative.

Romo is fine. I'll eat all the word salads in the world, and chomp the shit out of it. But Nantz is a jerk and smug and, also, extremely awful at his actual job of calling a football game.(and he's truly execrable during the Masters) I have no idea how he gets the PRIME gigs he gets, but he obviously knows where the bodies are buried.
There is nothing worse in sports broadcasting than Nantz at the Masters, particularly when they go to him at Butler cabin. That shit is absolutely brutal.
 

johnmd20

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There is nothing worse in sports broadcasting than Nantz at the Masters, particularly when they go to him at Butler cabin. That shit is absolutely brutal.
It is difficult to watch and it makes me feel icky. Listening to his voice is a challenge in and of itself. But seeing him and that stupid burnt toast loving smile makes me want to hurt puppies. And I love puppies more than anything.
 

54thMA

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This is good work.
Yes it is.

I also love how torqued off people get in game threads when a former Boston athlete makes a stand out play and someone will chime in with "Why can't we get players like that?"

Must be tough to go through life with a board up your ass.
 

8slim

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Yes it is.

I also love how torqued off people get in game threads when a former Boston athlete makes a stand out play and someone will chime in with "Why can't we get players like that?"

Must be tough to go through life with a board up your ass.
In fairness, Lobel hasn't been on the air in almost 20 years, right? It's a joke an increasing amount of people don't get.
 

Dotrat

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Nantz is the worst--a terrible, overrated PbP guy and an obnoxious toast-photo toting twit. It seems grimly appropriate that he announces a golf event at a club that's been synonymous at one time or another with racism, anti-Semitism, and misogyny. He's an aural vampire, sucking all the life out of every broadcast he does simply by virtue of being an egomaniacal doofus. I'm sure he's convinced himself that many of the people who tune to, say, KC vs. Buffalo do so because he's there doing that ridiculous, disingenuous 'hello friends' schtick. He'd step over his ostensible best friend if it meant another chance to hand over the Hunt trophy to some bigoted troglodyte of an NFL owner so he could stand there grinning his preppy Grinch's grin in the background while the owner drunkenly thanksssh all the fanzzz. He's never had chemistry with an NFL color guy.

Anyway, I no longer like Romo for many of the reasons others have cited--he talks too much, is insufferable during and after reviewable plays, and seldom provides any analysis of why the offense or defense had the edge on a given play. Collinsworth is a smug douche, but at least he brings some analytical acumen to the table.

I don't like Burkhardt and Olsen much, but that may be more because they seem like a big step down from Buck and Aikman. Olsen seems to get caught up in telling us why big star X just made a big play rather than get into the guts of what happened and why it worked (or didn't)--though when he does he's interesting. His voice, however, is reedy and chirpy, which doesn't help. Aikman remains my favorite color guy.

I think Ian Eagle, Greg Gumbel, and Kevin Harland are all vastly superior to Nantz. Michaels and Buck are, too, obviously.
 

Dollar

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I was never a big Madden guy, even at his peak I thought his telestrator stuff wasn't that insightful or interesting. Also, by 2002, Summerall was virtually catatonic on air (that SB was his last game) so it's not entirely surprising he wasn't filling the airwaves with words.

That said, the goosebumps line was awesome and an all-timer for sure.
That moment was definitely an all-time goosebumps-giver for me, along with Buck's "That's a catch!" and Aikman's subdued "Oh my god..." after Edelman's catch in SB 51.

And anyone in this thread who is saying that Tony Romo or Greg Olsen is the worst commentator in the game right now has clearly never heard a game called by Jonathan Vilma. He just finished his third season in the Fox Sports booth and has still yet to say one thing of value in that time.
 

Mystic Merlin

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I almost vomited out of my eyes when Nantz declared ‘WE GOT TO THE FINISH LINE ON TIME’ at the kickoff of the Chiefs-Bucs Super Bowl.
 
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dirtynine

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“I can’t appreciate this Pats game, Romo is too excited and talks over everything! I know, I’ll turn down the TV feed and pipe in Zolak!”

Romo is basically the [local homer announcer that you can’t stand unless he’s your guy] guy, but working on a national level so nobody really likes him. (Madden was this too but somehow came across as everybody’s local guy.)
 

Marciano490

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You can kinda see why Romo wasn’t super clutch. His mind goes faster the more excited he gets. He’s like a puppy watching you take items out of a grocery bag. Just never knows what to focus on for long.
 

Looch

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All this Nantz hate is forcing me to defend a guy whose extreme Waspiness/preppiness and relentless overexposure makes me want to hate him as well. That said, he rarely makes mistakes about anything, including the names of obscure players; he modulates his voice for ebbs and flows while being careful to alert viewers that a flag has been thrown or a video challenge may arise, and he is damn good across a lot of sports, especially the wildly different games of football and golf.

He also doesn’t try to do big signature calls that get in the way of how you remember the big moment. I enjoy Kevin Harlan and all the local radio guys who go bananas at the end of a big game, but that makes me appreciate more the Nantz/Pat Summerall/sometimes Joe Buck less is more approach.
 

cornwalls@6

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You can kinda see why Romo wasn’t super clutch. His mind goes faster the more excited he gets. He’s like a puppy watching you take items out of a grocery bag. Just never knows what to focus on for long.
I think that trait is also what probably got him into the little social media kerfuffle after last Sundays game, where some were accusing him of almost saying a very taboo word on air(which I doubt he was about to). His goofy enthusiasm and his mouth just vomiting words out too quickly, and in too much volume.