Media Moments Tony Romo Can Never Erase

During his time as a public figure, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has experienced a number of moments that he'd probably love to scrub from all of our memory banks. While his many flashes of brilliance on the field saved him from being considered a complete bust, some of his blunders proved that everything really is bigger in Texas. Fans of America's Team won't soon forget that infamous dropped snap during a 2006 wild-card matchup against the Seahawks. In 2017, Fox Sports deemed the botched hold on a game-winning field goal attempt one of the "10 worst plays in NFL history." The polarizing player's love life also earned him a number of negative headlines, so you have to admire his chutzpah in pursuing a career that kept him in the public eye after his 2017 retirement from the NFL.

At first, Romo's performance as a color analyst for CBS Sports scored him rave reviews from football fans and the media — his enthusiasm was infectious, and his penchant for predicting plays earned him the nickname "Romostradamus." By 2023, the honeymoon phase was over for some critics. "Tony Romo is the equivalent of a player who peaks his rookie year and never reaches that level again," said Fox Sports Radio host Jason Smith. Of the criticism of his game-calling, Romo said, "I've been through it a few times before." However, his number of awkward media moments did seem to increase exponentially when he became a broadcaster. 

Before Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen's divorce cast a dark shadow over the end of Brady's NFL career, Tony Romo angered some fans by making an inappropriate joke about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and the supermodel. While commentating on a 2021 Buccaneers game for "NFL on CBS," Romo suggested that the then-couple should act out the plot of "Indecent Proposal" — but instead of one million dollars in exchange for a night with Robert Redford, Bündchen would get a football and a date with a fan. 

Brady had thrown his 600th touchdown pass, and the wide receiver who caught it, Mike Evans, had tossed the ball to a fan instead of giving it to Brady as a memento of the momentous moment. Romo narrated a fabricated conversation between the fan and a Tampa Bay official trying to procure the ball. "What do you want, a million?" he said while playing the role of the official. "A date with Gisele. A date with Gisele, and I'm in," he said in character as the fan. "Okay. Tom will do it. One time, you got it," Romo imagined the official replying. 

Of Romo's attempt at comedy, one critic tweeted, "Yeah, not OK with Romo's comments. They're sexist and demeaning. Giselle is not property that can just be passed around." According to Mike Stroud, the fan got some signed swag, season passes, and a $1,000 Buccaneers store credit instead of a date.

Tony Romo has a few stains on what many expected to be a stellar football career, such as only winning two playoff games, but it was a different kind of stain that attracted some viewers' attention during Super Bowl LV in 2021. Having never scored a Super Bowl ring himself, commentating on the event had to be somewhat excruciating for Romo, and to make matters worse, he had couch comedians joking about a mysterious damp spot on the front of his pants. Its unfortunate placement had Barstool Sports schooling Romo on shaking etiquette and OutKick advising him that one surefire way to prevent drippage is to sit down while urinating.

The stain appeared after the halftime show, so a lot of people assumed that Romo had taken a rushed bathroom break. (The Weeknd was performing, so perhaps he didn't want to miss "I Feel It Coming.") However, it's also possible he had downed a sweaty beverage or scarfed down a leaky snack. 

Romo seemingly tried to hide the spot by folding his hands over it, but he eventually had to remove them. If he assumed that the CBS cameraman would be kind and stick to shots above the belt once he began speaking, he was wrong — and now an account for his pee stain exists on X, formerly known as Twitter. One helpful viewer suggested that Romo should follow his co-host's sartorial lead, tweeting, "That's why Jim Nantz rocks the long jacket!"

While covering the 2023 AFC Championship game, an excited Tony Romo decided to change what he was saying mid-word, making many viewers wonder whether he was about to casually drop a racial slur. Kansas City Chiefs running back Isaiah Pacheco had deftly avoided getting tackled by a trio of Cincinnati Bengals defenders, and Romo was marveling over the replay of his impressive maneuvering. "Right there, you got three ni– Talked about this, the best tackling team. They don't miss tackles," he said. "Tony Romo was about to say 3 n***as on live TV," read a viral tweet.

One X user got ESPN host Shannon Sharpe to weigh in on the game call that might have come close to ending Romo's broadcasting career. The Hall-of-Fame tight end didn't help Romo's cause, as he seemed to be in the camp that believed Romo almost said the n-word. "It's [television]. You get hyped and 4get sometimes where you are," Sharpe tweeted. Some of Sharpe's followers were unhappy with this take and felt he should have been critical of the analyst. "So what! That means he says it when no one is around. Y'all letting these yts get too comfortable," one person replied. Sharpe shot back, "What do you want me to do about how some1 talks when ppl aren't around?" While there were calls for Romo and CBS to address the controversy, neither has done so as of this writing.

While Tony Romo's days playing for the Dallas Cowboys might be in the rearview mirror, he was still tickled pink to see 77-year-old Dolly Parton all decked out like a Cowboys' dream on Thanksgiving Day 2023. Parton's bedazzled Dallas Cowboys cheerleader costume had some internet trolls asking, "Why'd you come in here lookin' like that?" But Romo was one of Parton's biggest cheerleaders, and he couldn't stop gushing over the icon on "NFL on CBS," to the point where things got awkward. First, viewers learned that Romo's co-host also possesses predictive power, but Jim Nantz's clairvoyance relates to halftime performances rather than plays. "You saw that coming, didn't you? You said, 'I think she's going to go with a little cheerleading outfit tonight,'" Romo said to Nantz. "I was like, 'Wow, that's pretty good.' I mean, she looks amazing, right? She's wonderful. Who doesn't like Dolly Parton?'" Was he even blushing a little?

Viewers found Romo's giddiness over Her Dollyness' performance highly entertaining. Some even preferred his Parton talk over his game analysis. "I'm a little sad Tony Romo couldn't spend the entirety of the second half talking about Dolly Parton as he clearly wanted to," one X user wrote. "Hell yeah give me 60 minutes of Tony Romo simping for Dolly Parton," another tweeted. Getting paid millions of dollars to fanboy over beloved country music royalty? What a way to make a livin'.

Tony Romo made an odd adjective choice when describing the Philadelphia Eagles' defensive line during the team's November 2023 matchup against the Buffalo Bills. He also rather randomly decided to compare the group of powerful players to his "NFL on CBS" co-host. "It's not sexy like you, Jim, but it's the game at its core," Romo said. The compliment made Jim Nantz chuckle, but some viewers complained about it. "Yeah Romo is way over the top on his comments," one person tweeted. "Wow that may have been the worst thing I've ever heard on tv," another wrote. "Let's get him out of there."

At least he didn't get accused of making a mean-spirited joke about Nantz's appearance. Some viewers thought Romo was taking a dig at Andy Reid's weight in 2022 as he watched footage of the Kansas City Chiefs coach speaking into his headset right before halftime. "Woah, baby. Let's go get a snack," Romo imagined Reid saying. "Romo makes a fool of himself at least once a game," one critic tweeted in response to a video clip of Romo's comedic stylings. 

According to a 2023 New York Post report, Romo has possibly made too many broadcasting faux pas for his bosses' comfort. Sources revealed that CBS Sports execs met with Romo to help him clean up his act; they planned on keeping him around for a decade, after all, and were paying him $180 million for his insight.

Before Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift got together, Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson were the NFL player and pop star power pairing everyone was talking about. However, their press coverage was often negative. When Simpson wore a pink Cowboys jersey to a 2007 game, she was jeered rather than cheered when her beau's team lost. Page Six even suggested that "Jessica's Jinx" was to blame for Romo's bad game.

Terrell Owens even joked about football fans' dislike of his teammate's girlfriend, later telling the media that Romo had contacted him about his comments because they had upset Simpson. "I was like, 'Look, dude, it wasn't meant like that,'" Owens recalled telling Romo, per ESPN. However, Romo's cowgirl was unbothered by the haters and giddy with love when she spoke to Glamour in 2008. Of how she learned that Romo was interested in her, Simpson recalled, "My family and I were watching a Cowboys game. I was going through my divorce and — Tony would die if I told you this — but [on television there was a story] about him. They said his celebrity dream crush was Jessica Simpson."

In regards to his relationship with Simpson, Romo's most regrettable media moment might be the reports about their breakup. According to People, Romo dumped Simpson the day before her birthday, ruining her plans for a Barbie-themed celebration. And how dare he deprive the rest of us of those photos?