Former NFL Player Has A Theory On Why Tony Romo Is Suddenly Struggling In the Broadcast Booth, And It Sounds Like He Cracked The Code

This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.

Tony Romo was universally praised early in his tenure as an NFL analyst for CBS Sports, replacing Phil Simms in the broadcast booth and working alongside legendary play-by-play voice Jim Nantz.

After retiring from football in 2017, Tony Romo signed a multi-year deal with CBS Sports to serve as an analyst on their No. 1 team. Early on, Romo’s passion, energy and mastery of correctly predicting plays (notably the 2018 AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs) drew rave reviews.

But as time has passed, more and more fans have gotten tired of Romo. Many called for the former Pro Bowl quarterback to get fired after a lackluster day on the job in the Kansas City Chiefs-Indianapolis Colts game.

And of course, there have been cringeworthy and dirty-sounding sentences, such as the time he said the Patriots were “DTF” (he meant details, toughness and finishing) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Emmanuel Acho Has An Interesting Take On Tony Romo’s Regression

In a lengthy X/Twitter post, FS1 analyst and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho gave an interesting take on why Romo has declined so much as an analyst in the CBS broadcast booth.

Acho noted that things are easier for analysts in the beginning because of their familiarity with some of the players, coordinators and play calls. But as Romo hasn’t played in almost a decade, players, coaches and schemes have changed.

As Acho points out, heavily panned analysts like Romo don’t lose their jobs because they don’t affect viewership:

When you first retire it’s easier to call games. You still know all the active players, coordinators and schemes. You don’t have to work, you can live off of the work from your playing career. You can “predict” what’s coming based off knowledge of a D.C and the offensive… https://t.co/4UiqcezrMa

— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) November 28, 2025

In 2020, Romo and CBS agreed to a 10-year contract extension worth $17 million annually, the New York Post reported at the time.