Tony Romo addresses criticisms of his role as NFL analyst: 'It's just a normal arc of a career'

Tony Romo was an immediate hit when he joined CBS as a game analyst in 2017, and a season later got rapturous reviews for his work on the AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and Kansas City.

But over the past three seasons, he has been subjected to increasingly negative assessments, from social media to professional media critics.

With Romo set to call his third Super Bowl for CBS, he was asked on a video news conference Thursday how he feels about the criticism that he has heard and read, and whether it affects how he does his job.

He has heard it, but he said it does not affect him.

“It’s a normal arc of someone’s career,” he said. “Honestly, I think a lot of people were rooting against [Patrick] Mahomes because he’s been there. They want to see people new.

“It’s just part of an arc when you do something at a very high level. I think that’s normal. Same thing happens in football. You become dominant at things and then all of a sudden people are like, ‘OK.’ Then at the end, Tiger Woods comes back and everyone roots for you. It’s just a normal arc of a career. It’s not abnormal. It’s absolutely what’s supposed to happen.”

Romo said it is the nature of social media to dwell on the negative.

“If you think about it closely," Romo said, "if you liked our broadcast and you said, ‘Wow, I love Jim Nantz and Tony Romo,’ and you said that on there on your tweet, are you going to keep doing that every week, or would that make you look a little silly?

“I think there are far more people who I see every single day who come up and love our broadcast and our team and CBS and what we do, and I hear that and feel that. And you can feel it in life.

“There are so many people that said they love us, and so you’re going to have the negative aspects that come in from time to time, but those things are normal. That’s what’s supposed to happen through the arc.”

At least Romo no longer has to answer questions about his personal life affecting his job. In 2007, some thought he lost focus while dating singer Jessica Simpson, whom he joined on a vacation to Cabo San Lucas before the Cowboys were upset by the Giants in the divisional playoff round.

Romo was asked about those who wonder whether Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce might be distracted by his current relationship with singer Taylor Swift.

“If you win, there’s nothing you can write on that,” said Romo, who broke up with Simpson in 2009 and has been married since 2011. “We’re calling the game and we’re not playing the game. When you play the game, you win or lose.

“If Travis wasn’t playing well, I think he’d be hit with that stigma, even though it’s not true . . . It’s what’s happening in his personal life, but it’s more important to people because he’s dating Taylor Swift.

“Plenty of people date somebody, it’s just they don’t write about it. To me, he’s still Travis Kelce and he’s playing incredible football right now.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.