Tony Romo on indefinite leave after Wisconsin DUI arrest as CBS weighs options
Tony Romo, CBS’s lead NFL analyst, was arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence in Wisconsin last month and is on indefinite leave after TMZ published a 31-minute “extended cut” of the arresting officer’s body-camera footage. The video shows Romo appearing disoriented, failing a field sobriety test and later appearing in a dishevelled mug-shot, and CBS has not announced a timetable to decide his broadcasting status.
Romo had been due to be in Minnesota on 13 September to call the game between the Vikings and the Green Bay Packers with Jim Nantz but is now on leave and former Houston Texans star JJ Watt has been promoted from CBS’s second-tier crew to work that broadcast. The broadcaster remains a high-profile television personality in American sport, but the arrest and its media attention have placed his role with CBS in doubt.
TMZ’s footage contrasts with images of Romo a year earlier, smart-suited and beaming alongside Nantz at the network’s preseason media preview; in the body-camera video Romo initially told the officer he had not been drinking before saying he had had a single Corona. He has not issued a public statement on the incident since the arrest.
The network’s handling of the situation is being shaped by legal and reputational factors: CBS declined to set a timeframe for a decision, and Romo’s court date is set for 21 September. Unusually among US states, Wisconsin typically treats a first-offense DUI as a civil rather than a criminal offence, a distinction the article notes could matter in contractual and public-relations considerations.
Romo’s prominence rests on a playing career that saw him spend all 13 years with the Dallas Cowboys after going unselected in the 2003 draft out of Eastern Illinois University and signing with Dallas as a free agent. He spent three-and-a-half seasons as a backup before taking the starting job in 2006 when Drew Bledsoe lost the position, and he remains the Cowboys’ franchise leader in career passing touchdowns.
CBS hired Romo immediately after he retired in 2017 and his work as a colour commentator – noted for in-game predictions and televised analyses – led to a then-record 10-year, $180m contract in 2020, a sum the article states was about $53m more than he earned during his playing career. The piece places that deal alongside other high-profile announcer contracts: Troy Aikman’s five-year, $90m deal with ESPN in 2022 and Tom Brady’s 10-year, $375m agreement with Fox Sports.
Romo’s arrest arrives amid scrutiny of his recent broadcasting form: The Athletic reported questions about a questionable work ethic, occasional on-air gaffes and apparently waning skills, and media consultant Patrick Crakes offered perspective on the role’s demands. “Everyone thinks they can do this job. Trust me, it’s harder than it looks. A lot harder than it looks. There’s 17 people screaming in your ear while you’re talking,” Crakes said, adding of Romo that “When Romo’s at his best, he understands the game, he sees it and he can articulate it quickly and lots of times he narrows down the possibilities to two or three, he picks one and he’s right a lot.”
The article situates Romo’s situation inside a broader commercial and cultural context: CBS pays $2.1bn a year to air NFL games and, according to the piece, the league has reportedly been seeking a 50% increase in rights payments. CBS was the most-watched NFL broadcaster last season by Nielsen ratings, averaging 25.8 million viewers for its late Sunday afternoon games, and its Thanksgiving Cowboys–Chiefs game drew an average audience of 57.2 million, described as the largest-ever audience for an NFL regular-season contest. The piece also notes Paramount Skydance’s reported interest in acquiring Warner Bros Discovery in a potential $110bn deal that could see CBS Sports merge with TNT Sports, and recalls an industry precedent about drinking in broadcasting highlighted by allegations about Howard Cosell in a 1988 book.
CBS Sports president David Berson told reporters on 11 August there is “no timetable” to decide Romo’s future and said: “We had to consider the impact on our image and on our brand. That’s very important to us. Whether the games, marketing, PR, social, the focus should and needs to be on our presentation and not on any other factors.” The article says one pragmatic option for the network would be to retain Watt and, if Romo’s contract could be voided on grounds that the drunk-driving charge damaged the network’s reputation, potentially save $72m; it adds that it is unlikely CBS will determine Romo’s future before his court date on 21 September and that JJ Watt will call the 13 September game with Nantz in Romo’s absence.