Will you admit that you were kind of iffy at first, about the idea of Tony Romo as a broadcaster?  I will!  But it only took a quarter or two of hearing him call a game this season to realize he's dang good.

And now he's been recognized by Sports Illustrated as the Media Person of the Year.

Is he a better broadcaster than he was a football player?  Hmm.  That's something to argue about with your friends about at happy hour today.  He went to four Pro Bowls as the Dallas Cowboys' QB and earned other honors too over the course of his career, and now he's stacking up accolades during his rookie year as a broadcaster in the CBS booth.  Maybe he's just good at everything he does.

SI named Romo the Media Person of 2017 this week, and said, “Romo’s knowledge of the league—specifically the formations and fronts of teams and how an offense attacks a defense—made him an invaluable resource for NFL viewers."

Not to mention the noises and exclamation-like grunts he makes when he's adding color and emphasizing a fumble recovery or a near interception. Those are unique.  "Boop!"  "Bip!"  "Whooops!"  And sometimes he strains and stretches right along with the cornerback trying to pick off the ball with an enormous squeak-grunt that I don't even know how to type, but something like, "oooohhhhhhahhhhhhheeeeeeooo....it was just out of reach."  John Madden had signature noises, and Tony Romo's got 'em too.

The broadcast booth agrees with Tony Romo.  He officially left the Cowboys in April and announced his hiring by CBS shortly after that, and he's been surrounded by support most of the way.  As  WFAA points out, he's been honored by the Dallas Mavericks and the Texas State Legislature, and Cowboy fans cheered him on during his first broadcast back at AT&T Stadium in November.

Romo can predict a play with the best of 'em, and he knows so much about the game that as a fan I feel like I'm learning some behind-the-scenes tidbits just by watching.  And he's got so darned much enthusiasm it's contagious.

And he's happy.  He told Sports Illustrated, “For me this job allows me to hopefully be a decent dad and to do a good job at that—and still be in the game of football."  And, "I think this is the one job that allowed me to do that.”

It looks like he's found life after football.

 

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