Tony Romo is done at CBS. The network and the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback agreed to split ways Friday, closing out a nine-year run that made him one of the biggest names in sports television. The move came after his July arrest in Milwaukee on a charge of operating while intoxicated. He never called another game for the network after that night on Interstate 43.
The arrest happened July 23. Romo was driving south on I-43 when a traffic stop turned into something much bigger. Deputies with the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said they watched how he was driving, pulled him over, and then ran field sobriety tests. They suspected he was drunk behind the wheel. He was taken in on the OWI charge.
It didn’t take long for the case to wrap up. Romo pleaded no contest on Sept. 1. A Milwaukee County judge found him guilty. His license got yanked for six months. He has to pay $834, go through an alcohol assessment program, and put an ignition interlock device on any vehicle he drives for at least a year once he gets his license back. Two other citations — one for an open container of alcohol in the car and one for unsafe passing — got tossed out.
CBS put Romo on leave right after the arrest. The network didn’t rush to a decision. It just waited and watched. J.J. Watt stepped in next to Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson on the lead NFL broadcast team. Now Watt stays there for the rest of the season. CBS made that clear Friday.
Romo, 46, kept things short in his own statement. He said he’s proud of the work he did at CBS. He said he went after the job the same way he went after everything else in his life — trying to win. Then he said he’s going to take a break, something he says he’s never really done, and focus on his health and his family before he looks at what comes next.
CBS also put out a statement. The network thanked Romo for his nine years and wished him well. That was it. No long goodbye. No highlight reel. Just a clean break.
Before all this, Romo had one of the wildest rises in broadcasting. He joined CBS in 2017 right after retiring from the NFL. He had spent his whole playing career with Dallas, went from undrafted to starter in 2006, made four Pro Bowls, and left as the franchise’s all-time leader in touchdown passes with 248. He retired after the 2016 season. A year later he was in the booth. Fans either loved him or couldn’t stand him, but they always knew his voice.
Milwaukee sits right on Lake Michigan, about 90 miles north of Chicago. It’s the biggest city in Wisconsin and the seat of Milwaukee County. Interstate 43 cuts through the metro area. That stretch of highway is where the traffic stop went down. That stop set everything else in motion — the arrest, the plea, the leave, and now the end of his run at CBS.
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