Tony Romo unveils new psychic ability as NFL analyst in CBS debut (Video)

Tony Romo made his debut in the booth for CBS on Sunday and he showed some supernatural talent as an analyst.

Freshly retired as a player, Tony Romo has vaulted into a marquee NFL game analyst position for CBS alongside play-by-play man Jim Nance. His first game was on Sunday in Nashville for Raiders-Titans, and reaction to Romo’s debut was, of course, quick to come after the game.

The key for any good game analyst on television, regardless of sport, is to find your own style while adding something unique for the viewer. Cris Collinsworth, John Madden, Jon Gruden and Troy Aikman are good examples from NFL games past and present. Romo will surely take some time to get fully comfortable in his new job and working alongside a true pro like Nance, no matter what you think of him, will only help.

During Sunday’s broadcast, Romo showed his “something unique” almost immediately as a former quarterback who was studying game film as recently as just last season. And it made him appear an awful lot like a psychic.

When Nance asked him what he was seeing that allowed him to predict plays, which the audience surely wanted to ask too, Romo simply said, “I’ve seen football in the NFL for 14 years.” That succinct response points to the mental acumen a quarterback has to have to succeed, in order to recognize and adjust to what the defense is doing.

Next: NFL Power Rankings: Week 1

Calling out the direction of plays may get a little annoying at a certain point, but Romo was not afraid to do so as a way to offer insight to help viewers understand formations and such on a higher, quarterback-style level. Phil Simms, Romo’s predecessor and Nance’s former partner on CBS’ marquee game as well as obviously a former quarterback himself, was not offering that kind of stuff very often and he didn’t do it very eloquently.