The hype about recently-retired Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo joining the broadcast team as part of CBS’s coverage of the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational at the Colonial Country Club this past weekend took a rather ordinary tournament and provided a great sense of anticipation.
And it turned out to be illuminating, although also a little disappointing.
At a black-tie dinner two days before the Fort Worth event began, Lance Barrow, the Coordinating Producer of The NFL On CBS and the Lead Producer of the network’s golf coverage, dropped a mega bombshell about Romo. Barrow said Romo would join CBS’ coverage at the 18th hole for a few moments wearing the network’s jacket. He asked those in attendance not to tweet anything because “it’s supposed to be a surprise.”
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What a tease!
Imagine an individual with a 40-year career in broadcasting, someone who is used to chasing and disseminating news, asking people not to report anything about Romo’s debut. Given that the interview was live on the Internet, it could hardly be described as a secret.
A story written by Clarence Hill Jr. of the Dallas Star-Telegram blew open the secret for anyone who didn’t already know.
In the state of Texas, Romo is huge, so adding him to the tournament coverage in Fort Worth was brilliant strategy or planning.
When it was announced in April that Romo was joining CBS as an announcer after a 14-year career that included numerous highs, lows and way too many injuries, there had been speculation he might also contribute to the golf coverage. Romo is a scratch golfer who tried unsuccessfully to qualify for the U.S. Open this year. He has been runnerup three times in the American Century Championship for celebrities and athletes and no worse than fifth in the five times he’s played.
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Respected NFL writer Adam Schefter tweeted that while Romo liked golf, he wanted to focus on his new football broadcast job. But Schefter added CBS recruited Romo because he could be of dual value in both football and golf, notably the network’s coverage of the Masters and PGA Championship. CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said upon Romo’s hiring that he there was no immediate plan for him to call anything except football.
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I looked forward to seeing Romo in his network debut, particularly when Barrow said, “Tony Romo has been on our radar for a long time,” adding the former star quarterback would be the first athlete football player to make the transition from the playing field to the booth as the number one announcer.
The fact CBS handed the job to Romo and put Phil Simms on waivers said a lot about the confidence the network had.
“I think he will do great, only time will tell,” Barrow said. “There will never be another John Madden or David Feherty.”
Madden took the role of a football analyst and became a larger-than-life star. The same could be said about what Feherty did for golf.
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“I think we have the next John Madden in our booth, I really do,” Barrow said. “I think he will do great. Obviously having the great Jim Nantz sitting next to him will be something.”
Because of his background in golf, I expected Romo to provide some insight to the tournament. I heard some sports commentators speculate CBS might use Romo as a field reporter for the 18th hole to perhaps acclimate him to his new role. That would have been understandable. Or maybe CBS would put Romo in the booth for Sunday’s final hole, even if just in a cursory role.
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Nantz and Nick Faldo do a good enough job on their own, although no one will ever replace Johnny Miller, in my opinion, in terms of a former golfer telling it like it is without sugar-coating the truth or talking in either a whisper or such reverent terms that you’d think golfers are doing open-heart surgery.
Romo appeared in the booth as advertised – although not with his CBS jacket, wearing a fashionable jacket without a tie – but it was on Saturday’s coverage at around 2:30 p.m. I missed it, but saw the online version of it.
I liked the fact that Nantz and Faldo engaged in some light-hearted golf talk during the interview with Romo.
“I think I’ve heard more weird, different sayings from (former announcer) Gary McCord over the years,” Romo said.
“We all did,” Nantz said.
Faldo said he saw Romo on the golf course, adding: “I give it heavy critique.”
“If you just had me play 16 of these holes, I’m going to have the same score,” Romo joked.
He talked of how he played in a Pro-Am in 2012 at Pebble Beach with Jordan Spieth and how the youngster impressed him with his energy. Romo thought at the time that Spieth would become somebody important one day on the pro tour. The two have become good friends. Romo said that he made a bet with Spieth that if they played a round together, he’d give Spieth $100 if he won, but he’d have Spieth do an Instagram photo if he lost. Romo lost.
Image Credit: Jordan Spieth Golf
“It is fun for me to get around with (the pros) and I kind of let them kick my butt a little bit,” he joked.
Not sure what he will be like as a football commentator, but I kind of liked what I saw in the interview. He provided some interesting anecdotes. Yes, he talked about why he retired from football and why he joined CBS, which has already been detailed, but he was appealing and humble chatting about golf, knowing there’s a big difference between playing golf for fun versus doing it professionally.
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He has a lot in front of him with what CBS did to acquire him as a free agent per se and putting him in a starring role. I hope he does well and becomes part of CBS’ golf coverage. I think he can offer an interesting perspective.
As an aside, after the interview with Romo, CBS went to the 11th hole with Spieth on the green. When the tournament ended, Spieth finished in a three-way tie for second. A clutch five-foot par-saving putt by Kevin Kisner prevented a playoff.
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Imagine if Spieth won. I’m sure CBS would have brought Romo back for an encore.
