CBS Sports Chairman Responds to Tony Romo Backlash, ‘Intervention’ Report

Sean McManus called the report “inaccurate” while speaking on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Unleashed Friday afternoon.

Appearing on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Unleashed Friday afternoon, CBS Sports Chairman, Sean McManus, commented on the recent wave of criticism hurled at NFL analyst Tony Romo as well as a New York Post report that CBS executives staged an “intervention” last offseason with Romo about his broadcasting.

“An enormous amount of people have come up to me who have said to me, ‘We really like Tony Romo,’” McManus told Chris “Mad Dog Russo. “He’s different. He’s not your typical analyst. He is enthusiastic. He sometimes speaks more of a fan than even an analyst, which I think people like. So I think this is being overplayed.

Social media, as you know, tends to be very vitriolic and unkind and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. And then when the mainstream media watches social media, they start ganging. … Can he get better? We can all get better.”

McManus went on to explain that he sits down with Romo periodically and that he does the same with other CBS talent, including golf analyst Trevor Immelman and college basketball analyst Bill Raftery, to offer reviews of their performance.

Regarding the New York Post reporting recently CBS execs “staged something of an intervention” after recognizing that “some of the luster of Romo’s NFL analysis had faded,” McManus offered a denial.

“The thought that there is some kind of story behind the fact that I sat down with Tony to talk about how he can get better is just inaccurate,” McManus said.

Romo joined CBS as its lead NFL analyst, working alongside Jim Nantz in 2017. In ’20, Romo signed a 10-year, $180 million contract with the network.