Tony Romo will make his analyst debut with CBS on Friday with the broadcast of a Chiefs-Seahawks preseason game, and the former QB said he is both "anxious and excited," according to Barry Horn of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Romo will call the national game alongside Jim Nantz, adding, "It's like my first start in the NFL. I want to see if I'm good enough." The CBS-Romo "flirtation started in Arizona" in '15 on the Friday night before Super Bowl XLIX. That is when CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus and President David Berson sat down with Romo to get his "pregame analysis" before the Patriots-Seahawks. They "loved what they heard." McManus believed he had "found an analyst in waiting." The job interview "came in February" at Super Bowl LI in Houston. McManus brought Berson and CBS Chair, President & CEO Les Moonves to a "private Saturday meeting with Romo." Once again, Romo "said all the right things." McManus: "After 90 minutes, we came away saying he had all the makings of a great broadcaster." Romo said CBS' final offer "pushed me to make a decision." Meanwhile, Romo has "insisted he won't follow" in Dolphins QB Jay Cutler's footsteps, who left an analyst job with Fox to replace injured QB Ryan Tannehill (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 8/22).
MAKING THE TRANSITION: In Ft. Worth, Drew Davison noted Fox' Troy Aikman and Romo "haven't talked about the transition." Aikman said, "The game has gotten harder to call for an analyst because the speed of the game has gotten faster and it gives you less time in between snaps. So you’ve got to be real concise. I think a lot of guys go into this business, coaches and former players, anticipate really being able to educate the viewer on a lot of things and there’s just not time for that. Whether it’s between plays or because there’s a commercial breaks and you’re rolling in a lot of different packages, so from that standpoint it’ll be probably a little bit of a surprise to him how little time he has" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 8/22).
