SI

A Reality Check Regarding Jim Nantz and Tony Romo

Cries for Ian Eagle and J.J. Watt to become CBS’s No. 1 NFL crew have reached a fever pitch after Sunday’s Bills-Jaguars game.

Jimmy Traina

Jim Nantz and Tony Romo drew much criticism for their call of the Bills-Jaguars wild-card game.
Jim Nantz and Tony Romo drew much criticism for their call of the Bills-Jaguars wild-card game. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

1. Tony Romo had a rough day on Sunday. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. His performance during the Bills’ win against the Jaguars

was not smooth. He was way too hyperbolic early in the game, he got things wrong and often hindered the broadcast instead of enhancing it.

I still enjoy listening to Nantz and Romo each Sunday, so I chalk this up to a bad day at the office for the duo. However, I’m in the minority at this point.

Nantz and Romo’s call on Sunday led to a bigger outcry than usual on social media for CBS to make Ian Eagle and J.J. Watt its No. 1 NFL broadcast team..

I’m as big an Eagle and Watt fan as anyone. I’ve sung their praises all season long. (This also allows me to plug the fact that Ian and J.J. were recently guests on SI Media With Jimmy Traina and that you should listen or watch because they were outstanding.)

But this is not about Eagle and Watt. This is about Nantz and Romo and social media.

While social media overall wants Eagle and Watt and replace Nantz and Romo, social media isn’t the real world. How much CBS values social media’s opinions is a factor here. The cries for Eagle and Watt to become CBS’s No. 1 crew are only going to increase each season. But there are two other factors at play that are much bigger.

Tony Romo makes $18 million a year. He’s under contract through 2030. For fans screaming, “move Romo to the studio” or “demote Romo from the No. 1 team,” it’s just not that easy.

Yes, if CBS decides it doesn’t want to put up with the social media backlash anymore, it can remove Romo from its No. 1 booth, but the network is gonna have to pay. And pay dearly. People who call the No. 2 game or work in the studio do not make $18 million a year.

Despite Romo’s hefty salary, his situation is pretty cut and dry. The Nantz scenario is much more dicey.

Nantz is the face of CBS Sports. He’s been at the network for 40-plus years. While it’s easy for JoeSportsFan49288592 to fire up a social media app on his phone and send out a post saying, “CBS needs to get rid of Nantz and Romo,” it’s just not that easy in the real world.

When Nantz decided he didn’t want to call the NCAA tournament anymore, he didn’t move to a lower crew. He stopped calling the tournament all together. If CBS decided it wanted Eagle and Watt to be its No. 1 team, it’s highly unlikely the network would demote Nantz. It would have to be an all or nothing situation.

It would make a massive amount of guts for CBS to tell Jim Nantz, who celebrated his 500th NFL game behind a mic this season, that he’s done calling football.

The only scenario I could see is that CBS and Nantz come up with some fake story about Nantz wanting to pull back and go into semi-retirement that would just see him call the Masters.

But again, I don’t see Nantz playing along with this. He’s 66 years old, not 86. CBS has the Super Bowl in two years, after ABC/ESPN airs next year’s big game. It would be stunning if Nantz agreed to leave the NFL booth before that game.

So, while the internet wants to demand CBS make Eagle and Watt the No. 1 NFL crew, the reality of making that happen is extremely difficult.

2. This was great stuff from Fox’s Tom Brady during Sunday’s Niners-Eagles game. This is the kind of stuff the GOAT should be giving us during a broadcast.

3. The NFL wants the Bears to have the prime slots, so that means the Niners are getting screwed with the divisional round schedule.

The Bears and Rams both played on Saturday. Yet, their game will be played this Sunday. And you can bet it will be the late game.

Yet, the Niners, who played on Sunday in Philly, have to play Saturday in Seattle.

TV ratings, not fairness, rule the NFL.

4. There is a huge social media controversy going on right now because a reporter from the Jacksonville Free Press, Lynn Jones, used her time at Liam Coen’s postgame press conference to praise the head coach for the job he did with the Jaguars this season. Some journalists are bent out of shape about this, while others saw it as a touching moment.

My take: This is not a big deal at all and the fact that this even became a thing is so stupid.

5. By the end of this week, this kid will have a podcast.

6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina features an interview with ESPN workhorse Laura Rutledge.

Rutledge talks about her various jobs, which include NFL Live, SEC Nation, Monday Night Football and sideline reporting during the college football playoffs.

In addition, Rutledge shares her side of recent “controversies” regarding her postgame interviews with Justin Herbert and Sam Darnold and discusses getting the Chris Berman treatment for her viral sprint from doing a halftime interview to the set to host halftime of the Sugar Bowl.

Rutledge also talks about her worst halftime interview, the job she likes the most and what she watches in the little downtime she gets and much more.

Following Rutledge, SNY’s Sal Licata joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discussed our Christmas and New Year’s holidays, talked NFL playoffs and gave out some television recommendations.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 72nd birthday to Howard Stern. Here’s some old-school Howard for the longtime fans.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

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JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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