Stephen A. Smith hoping for Tony Romo return to CBS: ‘People make mistakes’

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Credit: The Stephen A. Smith Show, CBS

CBS might not be rooting for a reunion with Tony Romo, but Stephen A. Smith hopes the former NFL quarterback gets back to the network.

In the wake of being arrested on suspicion of operating while intoxicated last week in Milwaukee, CBS placed Romo on leave “until further notice.” With no timetable for his return, Romo has already been replaced by J.J Watt in their lead NFL booth alongside Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson.

The decision to quickly replace Romo with a budding star in the booth like Watt has many wondering whether CBS is ready to move on from their lead analyst of the last nine seasons. Stephen A. Smith, however, believes we haven’t seen the last of Romo.

“I think so,” Smith said on his SiriusXM Radio show after a caller asked whether we’ll see Romo back on-air this season. “God bless him. It was a mistake to put himself in that position. But it happens from time to time. Thank God nobody was hurt or anything like that. Can’t get behind the wheel of a car inebriated in any way. Can’t even give that impression. That’s a very, very serious transgression, and we can’t minimize that.

“But in the same breath, he’s been a good dude, he’s always been a good dude, and nobody’s perfect. People make mistakes. And hopefully he can move on from here and live his best life and continue to do the great work he’s been doing for CBS.”

Romo will almost certainly return to covering the NFL in the future. Whether he makes it back this season, however, remains to be seen. If Romo is on-air for the upcoming NFL season, it would have to be with CBS. And if CBS is going to welcome Romo back at any point during the upcoming NFL season, the network will have to want him back.

In recent years, Romo’s lure as an analyst has faded, with fans and media quick to criticize every mistake, over-exaggeration, and strange noise he makes in the booth. Publicly, CBS has defended Romo from the mounting criticism, but if network executives were privately turning on his performance, this arrest may have given them an out with a morals clause in his contract.

As irresponsible as driving under the influence is, CBS would be more willing to overlook the arrest if they wanted to keep Romo as their long-term lead analyst. But if CBS was starting to wonder whether Romo is still their best option as a lead analyst, then the arrest gave them the ability to move on while blaming something other than his performance.

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