Super Bowl 58 is finally upon us. The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers do battle to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. This also happens to be a rematch of Super Bowl 54 four years earlier, which saw the Chiefs pick up the 31-20 win and their first Lombardi Trophy in 50 years. The 49ers, meanwhile, look to win their first Super Bowl since 1994.
The big game alternates between different networks. For Super Bowl 58, CBS gets the broadcast with Jim Nantz and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. The ex-quarterback took over as the color analyst in 2017 following his retirement from the NFL. He received universal praise in his first season for his ability to predict the plays based on how teams were lined up. But in each passing year, some NFL fans began to tire of Romo.
It's no surprise that early on in Super Bowl 58 fans took to social media to complain about Romo.
NFL fans complain about Tony Romo during Super Bowl 58 broadcast
Kansas City was called for a “horse collar” tackle.
— Brad Logan (@BradLoganCOTE) February 12, 2024
CBS analyst Tony Romo said it was “close.” pic.twitter.com/Bk9WSJK6Ev
"That was close," says Tony Romo, who doesn't seem to know what a horsecollar tackle is.
— Steve Berman (@BASportsGuy) February 12, 2024
It’s cute how Tony Romo is talking about “what it’s like to be in these kinds of games” as if he has any idea what it’s like to play in a Super Bowl. pic.twitter.com/lf1udfBlXO
— Denny Krahe (@DizRuns) February 11, 2024
Yall bullied Tony Romo into being the Uber positive color commentary guy and set nfl telecast back a decade smh
— Eddie Gonzalez (@bansky) February 11, 2024
Tony Romo loves to start a sentence, not complete it and then grunt and go into a different thought.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) February 12, 2024
Listening to Tony Romo talk about how to handle “big games” pic.twitter.com/1vvbyZ5CqQ
— Pat Egan (@Pat_Egan) February 11, 2024
Funny that Tony Romo is talking about what Brock Purdy will be feeling when he comes onto the field during the Super Bowl.
— Boyd Myers (@boydmyers) February 11, 2024
He is not speaking from experience.
"Pacheco runs like a little kid trying on shoes" 😂😂😂
— Mario (@Bollofever) February 12, 2024
This Nickelodeon broadcast is so much better than anything involving Tony Romo
A portion of fans criticized Romo for discussing what it's like to play in "big games" like the Super Bowl, noting that he never made it during his entire playing career with the Cowboys. He di make it to the Super Bowl three times...as an analyst for CBS, however.
Then, there was his analysis during the game. There was the penalty on the Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton for a horse collar tackle on 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, which Romo called close. Fans noted how the horse collar tackle was pretty obvious.
As noted, this is the third Super Bowl that Romo called. Notably, recent Super Bowls on CBS weren't great ones. Super Bowl 53 saw the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3, highlighted by a variety of punts throughout the first three quarters. Then there was Super Bowl 55, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers blew out the Chiefs 31-9.
Early on in Super Bowl 58, some fans aren't too thrilled with Romo's performance from the broadcast booth inside Allegiant Stadium.