Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
The US Sun
Battle of the NFL broadcasters as Fox splash out $375m on Tom Brady to take on old rival at CBS Sports Tony Romo
By Bob Williams,
6 hours ago
NFL icons Tom Brady and Tony Romo are ready to take their rivalry from the football field to the broadcast booth.
Romo , the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, set a new standard as an NFL analyst when he teamed up with Jim Nantz at CBS Sports in 2017.
Tom Brady his preparing to make his NFL broadcast debut with Fox Getty Tony Romo has partnered with Jim Nantz at CBS since 2017 Getty All eyes will be on the two former NFL quarterbacks this coming campaign Getty Brady won seven Super Bowls over his illustrious career Getty Romo led the Dallas Cowboys to four postseason appearances EPA
Such was his rapid rise that Romo signed a new deal worth $17 million a year – and more than $100m total – in early 2020 that made him the highest NFL analyst in TV history.
Among a series of records, he was named league MVP three times and named to the Pro Bowl on 15 occasions.
It was a remarkable rise for a player who was selected No. 199 overall by the Patriots in the 2000 NFL Draft.
Romo, for his part, carved out a long and successful career after going undrafted out of Eastern Illinois.
After being signed as a rookie free agent, Romo had a creditable 13-year spell with the Cowboys.
Romo led the Cowboys to four playoff appearances – but failed to advance beyond the divisional round.
He also secured four Pro Bowl appearances.
Meanwhile, Brady had a 6-0 record against the Cowboys during his time in the NFL, including two games that took place after Romo retired.
Romo and Nantz embrace ahead of Super Bowl LVIII in February Getty CBS Sports broadcast featuring Tony Romo (center), Jim Nantz (right), and James Brown (left) Getty
ROMO’S CBS RISE AND FALL
Romo has been a regular voice on CBS broadcasts alongside Nantz since 2017.
But many fans fear his magic touch in the broadcast booth has become a thing of the past.
Romo became a media darling after making a stunning start to his career behind the mic.
In 2019, his near-telepathic reading of plays in the AFC Championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Patriots made him a national hero.
Following that contest, Romo was declared part of the “best announce team in the sport,” per Roanake-based CBS affiliate WDBJ .
Known for his off-the-cuff remarks and eye for detail, Romo became an instant fan favorite in his early broadcast days.
He admitted to the Washington Post in 2019, “There’s no plan of doing it at all.
“Sometimes you just get passionate and you get excited and in the moment you start, you know, just really talking out loud what’s going through your brain.”
Fast forward seven years though and the spark appears to have gone from Romo’s announcing.
“He needs to be better prepared. As you move away from the sidelines, you need to do more work.
“I know CBS is aware of this. They tried an intervention last offseason. They knew, they anticipated this.
“That’s a credit to them, the people in charge there. But it has not gotten better.”
BRADY BOUNCE AT FOX
Brady’s first official NFL game with Fox is a matchup between the Cowboys and Cleveland Browns on September 8.
And the Patriots icon is determined to become an asset at the Fox NFL family.
Brady has been preparing hard for his Fox NFL debut Fox/UFL He recently did a trial run with Kevin Burkhardt at a Los Angeles Rams preseason game Instagram/NFL
“I believe I can provide a pretty unique perspective that I think a lot of people will really like,” he told Front Office Sports .
“It’s going to be a lot of hard work. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
“It’s always about challenging yourself to grow in different areas. And this is certainly one way that I’m doing it.”
Brady has been preparing hard for his new role at Fox, including taking part in several trial runs during preseason.
There was confusion when he appeared with broadcast partner Kevin Burkhardt at the recent exhibition between the Los Angeles Rams and Cowboys.
A video posted by the NFL led to speculation that he was set to make his debut in the Fox Sports booth.
Brady later shared a video of him walking out onto the field with Burkhardt with the caption “we comin’.”
The 47-year-old will be part of the Fox’s A-team alongside Burkhardt, replacing Greg Olsen as the top game analyst .
The Tom Brady domino effect
Tom Brady will take his seat in Fox's top NFL announce team alongside Kevin Burkhardt.
And his arrival at the network has set off a domino effect with every other announcer moving down one spot.
That means Fox’s NFL coverage in 2024 will feature entirely new broadcast pairings.
Greg Olsen , who previously worked alongside Burkhardt, will now be part of the No. 2 announce team with Joe Davis.
The other Fox pairings for 2024 are:
Adam Amin-Mark Sanchez
Kenny Albert-Jon Vilma
Kevin Kugler-Daryl Johnston
Chris Myers-Mark Schlereth
In another interview on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Brady said his mindset as a broadcaster would be different than the one he embraced during his playing days.
“There are definitely parts of me that are hyper-competitive – certainly they were as a player and as an athlete,” he said.
“I loved that competition, I relished that competition daily.
“I didn’t give a s**t if it was practice, if it was a game, if it was ping-pong, if we were playing trashketball in the locker room. I wanted to win.
“There’s other parts where I feel like I have matured a little bit and I don’t necessarily have to be absolutely competitive at everything.
“It’s a little more selective… Certainly, as a broadcaster, I don’t think for me it’s about competition.
“I think for me, it’s about, ‘Did I put everything I could into it? Did I give the fans everything that they tuned in for?’
“That’s really how I’ll end up gauging myself.”
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY
Fox Sports colleague Cowherd thinks Brady will be a very different broadcaster from Romo.
Cowherd is confident that Brady will thrive behind the mic based on what he showed on the field.
Colin Cowherd has predicted that Brady and Romo will be very different broadcasters FS1/The Herd with Colin Cowherd
“The traits and the habits that created the quarterback will probably create the same broadcaster,” he said on The Herd, his FS1 show, in May,
“I’ll give you an example, I thought Tony Romo was always underrated as a quarterback.
“He got a lot of criticism, I thought he was very good, but he was loose.
“It was often instinct over details and prep … flashy, really gifted, underrated, really talented, a bit of an ad-libber, feelings over facts.
“And as a broadcaster I feel the same way. He’s a risk taker, calls out plays, sometimes makes weird sounds.
“I’m not sure which direction he’s going, but by the end of it, it’s usually wildly entertaining.”
Similarly, Cowherd expects some of Brady’s traits to carry over into his broadcasting career.
“Then there’s Tom Brady, who as a player was meticulous and thorough,” he said.
“A people pleaser and detailed. And that’s what I think you’ll get as a broadcaster.
“Brady will be the opposite of Tony Romo and you can pick your favorite.
Romo has welcomed Brady’s arrival in the NFL booth Getty
“They’ll both make a lot of money, they’ll both be very good.
“But they will be opposites as broadcasters and you can pick your favorite.”
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0