During the last offseason, CBS Sports executives recognized that some of the luster of Tony Romo’s NFL analysis had faded. As a result, they staged something of an intervention, The Post has learned.
In an effort to have Romo focus more on being fully prepared and to help him find a way to mesh better with his broadcast partner, Jim Nantz, executives including CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus and CBS’ lead NFL game producer, Jim Rikhoff, flew on separate trips to Romo’s Dallas home, according to sources.
“To call this an intervention is a complete mischaracterization, we meet regularly with our on-air talent,” CBS Sports spokeswoman Jen Sabatelle said.
Whatever one chooses to call it, the executives reviewed tapes with Romo, went to dinner, and discussed the broadcast in an attempt to return him to the form that made him a media sensation in his first three years on air, beginning in 2017, and culminated in what was at the time the largest contract in sportscasting history, a 10-year deal for a total of $180 million.
While the get-togethers were said to have gone well, they did not improve the broadcast as Nantz and Romo continued to go in the wrong direction, much the same way as Nantz and his previous partner, Phil Simms, went backward.
Romo has received heat from TV sports insiders, media critics and social media. The Romo-Nantz combo will have even more relevance a year from now because Super Bowl LVIII, which will be played in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, 2024, will air on CBS.
This offseason, CBS officials plan to try to again address the issues with the network’s lead team.