Gambling Makes NFL 'Less Pure,' Claims Cowboys Ex Tony Romo At Super Bowl
LAS VEGAS - Tony Romo is expressing some concern about the NFL's marriage with gambling - and his take is as accurate as it is ironic.
"Once you start going into that world (of betting on games), it strikes me as you’ve got to be great at two things,'' said Romo of his role as CBS Sports' lead voice on football - which this week will include him working the Super Bowl. "Now you’re affecting people’s lives with what you’re saying in some way.''
Indeed, Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys star QB, is looked at by millions of people every week seeking insight ... into the game, but also into how to make money off the game, whether that be via gambling or fantasy football.
Gambling on the NFL isn't new - but the league's embrace of it is, with its big-money partnerships with companies that provide legal outlets to pick winning teams and players.
Romo used the phrase "less pure'' to describe the work and the play of football today as compared to previous generations that were subject to the NFL coming out against the world of gambling.
"It just makes it feel less pure and less like the stuff that you grew up on," Romo said to The Athletic's Richard Deitsch.
Sports fans will recognize an immediate irony that illustrates Romo's point: We are here at the Super Bowl, and the Super Bowl is here in Las Vegas ... gambling capital of America ... where once upon a time, the NFL wouldn't have been caught dead having an official association with.
And Cowboys fans will recognize a second irony: A few years ago, Romo and his associates started a business that was to stage a convention for fans to mingle with NFL players, with fantasy football as the hub of the wheel.
The NFL banned him from doing so, and Romo and the league were actually knotted in lawsuits trying to fight one another on it.
And now here we are, the NFL ultimately deciding that if it can't beat gambling, it might as well join it - and own it, really. And heads up, because this Super Bowl between the Chiefs and Niners is about to be the most gambled-on American sporting event of all time.
Or, at least, that's our bet.
