Tony Romo Shrugs Off Broadcast Critics: ‘That Stuff Doesn’t Affect Me’

The former NFL quarterback is the highest-paid NFL analyst in TV history.

Former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has taken the broadcasting world by storm, leading him to become the highest-paid NFL analyst in TV history back in 2020 when he signed a deal worth $17 million per season with CBS.

Even though Romo clearly initially won over his employers as he continues to work alongside Jim Nantz, he still hears plenty of criticism from fans and from fellow NFL media members.

The 42-year-old admitted to the Dallas Morning News this week that even though he hears the critics, he doesn’t let it bother him.

“That stuff doesn’t affect me,” Romo said. “Really once you play quarterback for the Cowboys you can deal with anything. You’ve got to remember there’s always someone’s opinion there. But 100 other people that come up to you and tell you they love you. You’re not going to please everyone. I do think at the end of the day, there’s a lot more people that really appreciate what we do and I think CBS does a great job with their broadcast team.”

Romo drew increasing criticism this last season after several widely successful seasons in the broadcast booth. It came to a head after a February report from the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand that CBS tried an “intervention” to get the former Cowboys quarterback to do more preparation before calling games.

Romo’s response to critics this week comes days after Nantz spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina on his podcast SI Media With Jimmy Traina. The longtime CBS play-by-play announcer had nothing but kind words when speaking about his broadcast partner.

"Tony is the best,” Nantz said. “He’s the absolute best. And he’s also one of my best friends. I love the guy. And when somebody starts questioning our chemistry, there’s an agenda there. There is nothing wrong with our chemistry. I have never had better chemistry with anybody in my career than Tony.”

The duo will be entering their seventh season this year on CBS.