Colin Cowherd has a theory on an underlying cause of Tony Romo’s broadcasting slippage.
This week, The Post’s Andrew Marchand exclusively reported that CBS brass flew to Texas to meet with Romo and address concerns about his performance on NFL broadcasts with Jim Nantz. Cowherd reacted to this news on his podcast, citing a general belief that avid golfers become so obsessed with the sport that it affects their focus at work.
“I’ve used this for years when I would interview people and I was going to hire them,” Cowherd said. “If I had lunch or coffee with them, I always asked them if they loved golf. ‘Oh, I love golf. Do you love golf?’
“And if they said yes, I wouldn’t hire them. Because I always had this theory that as guys age, many of them get addicted to golf. They’re on PGATour.com, they’re putting in the backyard, they’re thinking about it at work, they’re scheduling a trip to Scotland and they lose sight of their other job.”
Romo, who is three seasons into a 10-year contract worth $180 million with CBS, has competed in a number of professional tournaments over the years. While his love for the sport was an initial chemistry draw with Jim Nantz, their partnership has not felt as crisp the last two years.
“Romo wants to be on the Tour,” Cowherd continued. “He literally wants to be on the Tour. And what’s the first thing Aaron Rodgers does in the off-season, he goes and golfs, he loves it. Both, by the way, great golfers, especially Romo. But I’ve always felt like Tony Romo is one of those guys, and we all have somebody in our social circle like this, they got the golf bug, he’s had it for 15 years. Tony wants to be on the PGA Tour — but he likes the paycheck from CBS.”
Cowherd spoke about how it’s fine that Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal may not know every NBA player. He explained that they’re likable and doing hours and hours of TV. Romo, on the other hand, might get 20-25 minutes of airtime a week after the three-hour game is sliced into Jim Nantz’s play-by-play, sideline reports, ad reads, commercials and Romo’s commentary.
“Football is different. You get 20 million viewers. It really is the most important weekly broadcast for networks. And if they’re paying you $17 million, and you’re talking about 20 minutes a week, they want you to be dialed in,” he said.
Cowherd didn’t think Romo is terrible — but he’s not been exemplary either.
“I don’t think he does a bad job. I think he’s fine,” Cowherd said.
Then, the host juxtaposed Romo’s lackadaisical preparation with Fox analyst Greg Olsen’s fastidiousness.
“When I listen to Greg Olsen, he sounds like he’s been studying for those three hours for six days. Romo sounds like sometimes — and he’s entertaining — he’s winging it.”
