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Tony Romo Says an NFL Telecast Needs to Be a Little of Everything: Traina Thoughts
1. I chatted with Tony Romo for a few minutes on Tuesday at CBS's NFL media day in New York City and it was easy to see why he was a smash hit during his debut season in the booth in 2017.
I asked him if this tweet I sent out last September was a fair assessment of his work.
"It’s pretty good," Romo said. "I like it. Hopefully I’m the nice drunk guy."
He continued, "If I'm going to watch someone for three hours, you can’t just be all technical, you can’t be all goofy, you can’t be all super serious. We all have phones. We’re in an age where our brains are ready to move to the next thing. There has to be a little bit of entertainment with it. I just know I’d be bored. We need to switch it up sometimes."
Did Romo pay attention to the broadcasters calling the action when he was a player? Was he a fan of John Madden, who Romo sometimes sounds like with the unusual sound affects coming out of his mouth?
"Not as a player," Romo said. "But Madden was doing it when I was a fan. I caught the tail end. Then I remember going into my first production meeting and it was Madden and Al Michaels and I felt like I was with Sinatra back in the day. It was a big deal. That was a pretty neat moment in my life."
Does Romo see himself doing this for as long as Madden or even Cris Collinsworth and Troy Aikman?
"I think I’m going to do this a long time. At least two or three years," he joked. "You really don’t know. Honestly, yes. Right now the easy answer is I’m going to do it forever. But you just don’t know how you’re going to feel or think, family stuff, there’s a million things that go into that. Right now I love it. I think I’m going to do it a long time. I really enjoy it. I’m lucky to have a partner like Jim Nantz."
Romo and Nantz will call Texans at Patriots Week 1 at 1 p.m. ET for CBS.
2. This week's SI Media Podcast features an interview with Ryen Russillo, who just announced he’ll be doing podcasts for The Ringer as well as ESPN. Russillo talks about how his deals with both companies came about, what his mindset was like when he left ESPN in December of 2017, why he believes in his abilities as a host, whether he’d love to do a full-time TV show, the difficulties of doing a solo radio show, what makes an athlete a good interview, who his dream interview would be, and much more. The final 20 minutes of the podcast closes with a lengthy, in-depth discussion about The Office, while Russillo tries to argue his case that beautiful, lovely, sweet Pam Beesly was "evil."
3. Blake Griffin appeared on Comedy Central's Roast Battle this week and held his own against the great Jeff Ross.
4. This week's Hard Knocks closed with a scene that featured various Browns players doing the whole LeBron vs. Jordan argument. These guys are waaaaaay better than anyone you've ever seen on one of those awful FS1 hot take shows.
5. Memo to media companies still doing this: It's played out, old and not funny, or orginal anymore.
6. RANDOM COLLEGE FOOTBALL VIDEO OF THE DAY: The ending to the 2007 Fiesta Bowl never gets old.
7. In honor of Ryen Russillo's appearance on the SI Media Podcast and our lenghty discussion on the The Office, I figured this was a good way to close out today's Traina Thoughts.
Traina Thoughts is the best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts right here.And make sure to listen to and subscribe to the SI Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina.
IN CLOSING: There will be a Traina Thoughts on Friday, so please come back for more even if you've already started your holiday weekend.
